Shifting Gears

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.

God of life, in Christ you transform all things, revealing your love for us, that our transformation may bear witness to the power of your love for all of creation through our lives. Amen.

Holy one, you have created us with the ability to choose between your way of love and our way of selfish ambition. Help us to reject the advice of the self-obsessed or those who mock your beloved creation, and by your Holy Spirit empower us to make our prayers reality.

We pray for those who put their trust in themselves instead of in you.

We pray for those who put their trust in princes and politicians, and find themselves deceived and misled.

We pray for those who are poor, who hunger, who weep.

We pray for those who are making poor choices in their lives; may they turn to you for guidance.

We pray for the trees, for the rivers, and streams, and for all of your creation: turn us from our exploitative ways to help you renew the earth.

God, you ask much, but promise that your yoke is easy. Guide us throughout our lives, keeping us ever mindful of the good news of your love and renewing grace; through Jesus, our great teacher. Amen.

The LWCC Vocal Trio joins us today in memory of Joanna Matos, courtesy of The Matos Family.

O God, whose word is like water to the root of the tree, you created us with free will and freedom of choice that we might flourish alongside your Spirit — bearing fruit for a hungry world. Speak to us again your message of transforming love that we light live your freedom in the world trapped in fear around us. Amen.

¹⁷He came down with them and stood on a level place, with a great crowd of his disciples and a great multitude of people from all Judea, Jerusalem, and the coast of Tyre and Sidon. ¹⁸They had come to hear him and to be healed of their diseases; and those who were troubled with unclean spirits were cured. ¹⁹And all in the crowd were trying to touch him, for power came out from him and healed all of them. ²⁰Then he looked up at his disciples and said: “Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God. ²¹“Blessed are you who are hungry now, for you will be filled. “Blessed are you who weep now, for you will laugh. ²²“Blessed are you when people hate you, and when they exclude you, revile you, and defame you on account of the Son of Man. ²³Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, for surely your reward is great in heaven; for that is what their ancestors did to the prophets. ²⁴“But woe to you who are rich, for you have received your consolation. ²⁵“Woe to you who are full now, for you will be hungry. “Woe to you who are laughing now, for you will mourn and weep. ²⁶“Woe to you when all speak well of you, for that is what their ancestors did to the false prophets.

Perhaps nowhere else in the Gospel is Jesus’ message of a new world order — the arrival of the realm of God — more clear, and yet this new world order has always been difficult for the church to fathom and easy for it to neutralize. How does this teaching of Jesus challenge you and the world order that we are currently living in? What is one thing you might do to begin to live into the New World Order of Jesus today? What quality or characteristic within you helps you to keep trying, to start again, after disappointment or even failure?

God places before us the ways of life and the ways of death, and bids us to choose. As we prepare to give our tithes and offerings this day, let us choose wisely, guided by the Holy Spirit who dwells among us. Amen.

Holy One, bless and multiply these gifts we bring as tokens of our trust in you. Use them to bless the poor, feed the hungry, and comfort those who weep; in Jesus name. Amen.

May the blessing of God, Creator, Christ, and Holy Spirit, nourish and sustain us, surprise and reorder us, and strengthen us in faith and hope for this life and the life to come. Amen.