Who Is My Neighbor?

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.

Loving God, you call us to live out your justice and righteousness. Help us to walk in your footsteps, so that we may never lose your way. Enable us to live and love in the way you have taught us, so that we can act in love, even with those who we struggle with. In the name of Jesus, we pray. Amen.

Loving God, we come to pray for your world and all that is in it.

God of justice, work your will through us. Free us to speak your word in a world that needs to be reminded of your love. Greed has overtaken the land and ego rides unchecked. Ambition has taken the place of the values you have called us to. Iniquity has taken hold, making the rich richer and the poor poorer. Give us your voice, that your church can serve as shepherd, guiding your people to your will for the world.

God of compassion, work your will through us. Free us to tend to those who are weak and needy. You have shown us your desire to care for those abandoned or rejected; for the sick, and those on the margins. Give us eyes to recognize them in our midst; people living with disease; people without legal status; people in abusive relationships; those who live in the shadows of fear and indifference’ use us to bring your revolution of love into these places of despair. God of all, work your will through us. Free us from asking “who is our neighbor?” Teach us again your way, that we might show compassion; anoint us and send us forth that we might bring your love to those in need. Carry us, and give us strength to carry others.

Heal your aching world, we pray and use us to work out your will. In the name of Love, Way, and Spirit. Amen.

Holy God, this is the time when we quiet our hearts and our minds, to pay attention — to really pay attention — to what you have to say to us today. Fill us with your Word, and give us understanding of the heart through your Holy Spirit, that hearing your Word, we may live lives worthy of you and please you in every way. Amen.

¹Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother, ²To the saints and faithful brothers and sisters in Christ in Colossae: Grace to you and peace from God our Father. ³In our prayers for you we always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, ⁴for we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love that you have for all the saints, ⁵because of the hope laid up for you in heaven. You have heard of this hope before in the word of the truth, the gospel ⁶that has come to you. Just as it is bearing fruit and growing in the whole world, so it has been bearing fruit among yourselves from the day you heard it and truly comprehended the grace of God. ⁷This you learned from Epaphras, our beloved fellow servant. He is a faithful minister of Christ on our behalf, ⁸and he has made known to us your love in the Spirit. ⁹For this reason, since the day we heard it, we have not ceased praying for you and asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of God’s will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, ¹⁰so that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him, as you bear fruit in every good work and as you grow in the knowledge of God. ¹¹May you be made strong with all the strength that comes from his glorious power, so that you may have all endurance and patience, joyfully ¹²giving thanks to the God and Father, who has called you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the light. ¹³He has rescued us from the power of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of his beloved Son, ¹⁴in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

²⁵An expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. “Teacher,” he said, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?” ²⁶He said to him, “What is written in the law? What do you read there?” ²⁷He answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind and your neighbor as yourself.” ²⁸And he said to him, “You have given the right answer; do this, and you will live.”²⁹But wanting to vindicate himself, he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?” ³⁰Jesus replied, “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho and fell into the hands of robbers, who stripped him, beat him, and took off, leaving him half dead. ³¹Now by chance a priest was going down that road, and when he saw him he passed by on the other side. ³²So likewise a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. ³³But a Samaritan while traveling came upon him, and when he saw him he was moved with compassion. ³⁴He went to him and bandaged his wounds, treating them with oil and wine. Then he put him on his own animal, brought him to an inn, and took care of him. ³⁵The next day he took out two denarii, gave them to the innkeeper, and said, ‘Take care of him, and when I come back I will repay you whatever more you spend.’ ³⁶Which of these three, do you think, was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of the robbers?” ³⁷He said, “The one who showed him mercy.” Jesus said to him, “Go and do likewise.”

Now knowing that we are neighbors to all of creation, how might you respond to your neighbors in new ways? What changes in your view of the world if we are all connected? Who else needs to hear this message of new neighborhood? And how might you share it with them?

As children of God, we live in the love of God. We understand that everything we do and everything we have, comes from God, whose unconditional love lifts us up each day. Let us continue our thanksgiving with grateful hearts, by giving from what God has blessed us with. Amen.

Thank you God: you are the ground of our being, our food, our water, our sun, everything we need to flourish. We offer these gifts to you, asking for your guidance, as we work each day to build your kindom of love in this world of our making. Amen. GOOD NEIGHBORS are a BLESSING

May God fill you with love, may Jesus send you out in love, and may the Holy Spirit continue to fill you with love as you pour out love upon the world around you. May you love your neighbor, may you do acts of justice, may you speak out, and may you defend those who are oppressed. Go and do! Amen.