Freedom from Possession

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.

Ever-Loving and Ever-Present God, you invite us to cast out evil, tear down walls of division, comfort and challenge the world to see your way of love as the way forward. Grant that we may lift up the discouraged, strengthen the doubting, and join with all who seek to bring your kin-dom into this world. Amen.

When forces in the world threaten us, when our bodies turn against us, there is one who seeks us, one who meets us, one who heals us. Let us turn to the source of love as we now pray.

We pray for the coming of your kin-dom. Let the earth be made whole and new; let the sky be made clean and refreshed. May all creation join you in your way of love.

We pray for the nations and people of the world. Let us receive your Spirit with gladness. Grant world leaders wisdom and humility, that they may serve in your way of love, working for peace. Give us ears to attend to the voices of poets and prophets, through whom your Spirit speaks.

We pray for the most vulnerable: for creatures threatened with extinction … for those of the human family who are poor, houseless, or refugees … victims of political, domestic, or economic violence … those who are ill in body, mind, or spirit … Grant us compassionate hearts, inspired minds, and wills resolved to care for our neighbors with the love of God through the way of Jesus. Amen.

Loving God, your words feed us, the Word frees us, and the Spirit gives us life. Grant our ears an appetite for hearing and our spirits strength for loving you. Amen.

Galatians 5:1,13-25 ¹For freedom Christ has set us free. Stand firm, therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery. ¹³For you were called to freedom, brothers and sisters, only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for self-indulgence, but through love become enslaved to one another. ¹⁴For the whole law is summed up in a single commandment, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” ¹⁵If, however, you bite and devour one another, take care that you are not consumed by one another. ¹⁶Live by the Spirit, I say, and do not gratify the desires of the flesh. ¹⁷For what the flesh desires is opposed to the Spirit, and what the Spirit desires is opposed to the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to prevent you from doing what you want. ¹⁸But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not subject to the law. ¹⁹Now the works of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity, debauchery, ²⁰idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, anger, quarrels, dissensions, factions, ²¹envy, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these. I am warning you, as I warned you before: those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. ²²By contrast, the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, ²³gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against such things. ²⁴And those who belong to Christ^[e] have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. ²⁵If we live by the Spirit, let us also be guided by the Spirit.

⁵¹When the days drew near for him to be taken up, he set his face to go to Jerusalem. ⁵²And he sent messengers ahead of him. On their way they entered a village of the Samaritans to prepare for his arrival, ⁵³but they did not receive him because his face was set toward Jerusalem. ⁵⁴When his disciples James and John saw this, they said, “Lord, do you want us to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them?” ⁵⁵But he turned and rebuked them. ⁵⁶Thenthey went on to another village. ⁵⁷As they were going along the road, someone said to him, “I will follow you wherever you go.” ⁵⁸And Jesus said to him, “Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.” ⁵⁹To another he said, “Follow me.” But he said, “Lord, first let me go and bury my father.” ⁶⁰And Jesus said to him, “Let the dead bury their own dead, but as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God.” ⁶¹Another said, “I will follow you, Lord, but let me first say farewell to those at my home.” ⁶²And Jesus said to him, “No one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.”

Where do the trappings of Empire possess your thoughts about God? Where do you need to let go of the ideas of a God of punishment and control? How does the God of love as revealed through Jesus empower you to turn to the Holy Spirit and release those around you who are still trapped in empire?

We offer both white and red grape juice. If you are afraid of spilling red grape juice, a limited number of cups with white grape juice are provided.

Here at Community Church, we celebrate “Open Communion.” Anyone who wishes to commune may come to God’s Table. You do not have to be sinless; God forgives you. You do not have to be perfect; God encourages you to grow. You need not belong to any church; God invites all people to this meal. It is enough to love and follow God with all your heart. This is what God asks us to do. Come to God’s Table in faith this day. Go from this place to live and never be the same again. Let us commune as siblings in Christ.

God is in you.

We are in God.

Lift up your hearts.

We lift up our hearts in love.

Let us give thanks to the source of all love.

It is right to give our thanks and praise.

It is right, and a good and joyful thing, always and everywhere to give thanks to you. Almighty God, creator of heaven and earth, you formed us in your image and breathed into us the breath of life. When we turned away, and our love failed, your love remained steadfast. You delivered us from captivity, made covenant to be our sovereign God, and spoke to us through your prophets, who looked for that day when justice shall roll down like waters and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream, when nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore. And so, with your people on earth and all the company of heaven we praise your name and join their unending hymn: Holy are you, and blessed is your Son Jesus Christ. Your Spirit anointed him to preach good news to the poor, to proclaim release to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, and to announce that the time had come when you would save your people.

He healed the sick, fed the hungry, and ate with sinners.

By the baptism of his 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.

At his ascension you exalted him to sit and reign with you at your right hand.

On the night in which he gave himself up for us, he took bread, gave thanks to you, broke the bread, gave it to his disciples, and said: “Take, eat; we are one body as we share in the bread together. Do this in remembrance of me.”

When the supper was over, he took the cup, gave thanks to you, gave it to his disciples, and said: “Drink from this, all of you; this is the cup of the new covenant, an ongoing sign of God’s love for you and all of God’s very good creation. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.”

On the day you raised him from the dead he was recognized by his disciples in the breaking of the bread, and in the power of your Holy Spirit your Church has continued in the breaking of the bread and sharing of the cup.

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: Pour out your Holy Spirit on us gathered here, and on these gifts of bread and fruit of the vine. Make them be for us the symbols of your love and desire for us to be your body knit together to build the new creation, your preferred future for us.

By your Spirit help the body of Christ be one. Help the left hand and the right hand work as one in ministry to all the world. Help the eyes and the ears sense your present and coming kin-dom. Bring the blessing of the diversity of the body to bear fruit until Christ comes in final victory and we feast at his heavenly banquet.

Through your Son Jesus Christ, with the Holy Spirit in your holy church, all honor and glory is yours, Almighty God, now and forever. Amen.

THE LORD’S PRAYER – Celtic Version:

Holy One beyond all names, Eternal Wellspring, May love rise again in us today, with food for every table, shelter for every family, and reverence for every life. Forgive us our failings in love, and free us from all falseness. That the light of our souls may shine, and the strength of our spirits endure — for Earth and all its

people — this day, tonight, and forever. Amen. - John Philip Newell

Because there is one loaf, we, who are many, are one body, for we all partake of the one loaf.

The bread which we have eaten is a sharing in the bread of Christ. The cup over which we give thanks is the sharing in the cup of Christ.

Eternal God, we give you thanks for this holy mystery in which you have given yourself to us. Grant that we may go into the world in the strength of your Spirit, to give ourselves for others, in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

God gives us more than enough for our journey of faith. Let us present our tithes and offerings so that others may know their blessings and give thanks to God. Amen.

Triune God, through Jesus and the power of the Holy Spirit, you bring hope to the despairing, healing to the sick, and release from bondage to all who are oppressed by sin and evil. In Jesus we have learned that you cover us with your love. We thank you for drawing us together and ask that your healing waters would wash away all that separates us from you and one another. We thank you that in this new life we are set free to proclaim the good news of your love to others. Direct our gifts to fulfill your purpose this day and in the days to come. Amen.

Rejoice in the love of God by loving others and building the kin-dom of God as we go forth to live as the body of Christ. Amen.