Born from Above

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 our helper, our shade, our protector, you are able to give life to the dead, to call into being things that do not exist. We trust in your power to make all things new; to keep us in sunlight and moonlight, along rocky paths and pathways unknown; until all our going and coming brings us at last to your kindom promised in Christ, in whose name we pray. Amen.

God our Helper, we thank you for keeping our lives always in your care and protection and pray for any and all who are in harm’s way. For those walking in the midst of danger... for those who are treading a slippery path... for those exhausted and seeking relief... for those who face a mountain of worry or debt or any other obstacles...

Where hope has grown tired and thin, lift our sights, so that we may see hope beyond hope, life beyond death, and you, lifting our eyes to see the way of love in the world. In the name of Jesus, who came to reveal our place in your heart, we pray.

Be Guardian and Guide, we pray, setting all our feet on your paths of righteousness and peace. We pray for those who are struggling with a new challenge or call... with a major transition in life or livelihood… with their faith and understanding... with grief, ancient or new...

Where hope has grown tired and thin, lift our sights, so that we may see hope beyond hope, life beyond death, and you, lifting our eyes to see the way of love in the world. In the name of Jesus, who came to reveal our place in your heart, we pray.

Keep in your tender care and mercy, O God, those who are sick in mind, body, or spirit... those weighed down by depression or pain... those recuperating from surgery or accident.... Protect not only us and those we love, but also the whole wide world you so love. In places of war, bring peace... In places beset by natural disaster, bring calm and restoration... Where there is unrest and injustice, make justice our aim.

Where hope has grown tired and thin, lift our sights, so that we may see hope beyond hope, life beyond death, and you, lifting our eyes to see the way of love in the world. In the name of Jesus, who came to

reveal our place in your heart, we pray. Amen.

God of signs and wonders, we come to your word again and again, seeking understanding and the new life it offers. By the power of your Holy Spirit, illumine our hearts and minds so that we may believe this testimony and have eternal life. In the name of Jesus Christ, our teacher and Savior, we pray. Amen.

Genesis 12:1-4a The Call of Abram ¹ Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. ² I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. ³ I will bless those who bless you, and the one who curses you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” ⁴ So Abram went, as the Lord had told him, and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran.

Nicodemus Visits Jesus ¹ Now there was a Pharisee named Nicodemus, a leader of the Jews. ² He came to Jesus by night and said to him, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God, for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with that person.” ³ Jesus answered him, “Very truly, I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God without being born from above.” ⁴ Nicodemus said to him, “How can anyone be born after having grown old? Can one enter a second time into the mother’s womb and be born?” ⁵ Jesus answered, “Very truly, I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God without being born of water and Spirit. ⁶ What is born of the flesh is flesh, and what is born of the Spirit is spirit. ⁷ Do not be astonished that I said to you, ‘You must be born from above.’ ⁸ The wind blows where it chooses, and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.” ⁹ Nicodemus said to him, “How can these things be?” ¹⁰ Jesus answered him, “Are you the teacher of Israel, and yet you do not understand these things? ¹¹ “Very truly, I tell you, we speak of what we know and testify to what we have seen, yet you do not receive our testimony. ¹² If I have told you about earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you about heavenly things? ¹³ No one has ascended into heaven except the one who descended from heaven, the Son of Man. ¹⁴ And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, ¹⁵ that whoever believes in him may have eternal life. ¹⁶ “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life. ¹⁷ “Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world but in order that the world might be saved through him.

Consider a time when you felt uncertain. Can you see how God was at work in your life at that time? What from Abraham and Sarais story, or from Nicodemus's story, is a help to you as you look for evidence of God's presence in your own life?

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 be with you. And also with you.

Lift up your hearts. We lift them up to our God.

Let us give thanks to the Source of Love.

It is right to give our thanks and praise.

Great God of the Coming Dawn, in each new day you surprise the earth with splendor. Your Spirit moves across the face of the waters and brings forth life. At the dawn of all things, in a garden you worked the earth, elbow deep in mud you fashioned us, gifted us, and gave us work to do.

Made from the earth, made by your hand, we forgot who we were. We forgot who you were and we tried to remake ourselves. We rejected your love and fell into selfishness. Yet even in our darkness, you continued to speak your vision of light and life. When we were slaves in a foreign land, you brought us out of our oppression, led us through the waters, and washed us up on the shores of a new life as a chosen people. And you spoke of a day to come when you would come once more to save. And so, we who live on the edge of this land look across the waters to the horizon. We come to live on the edge of your new and promised day, and we raise our voices with all the saints as we proclaim …

Blessed are you, and blessed in your Son Jesus the Christ, whose coming was announced by wilderness prophets. In Jesus, you not only took our name but our flesh. He announced the new day and the acceptable year when blind folks would see, and poor folks would rejoice — when captives would be set free, and the oppressed would once more walk upright in liberty. In stories, he spoke of waiting bridesmaids and prodigal sons. With tears and compassion, he brought a dead man to life and gave a woman at a well the living water she sought. With anger he overturned tables and challenged the powerful. On the cross he revealed the power of weakness, and in the emptiness of the tomb he gave us a glimpse of your tomorrow that does not end in death.

On the night when he was betrayed, he sat at a table with his friends. He took bread, blessed it, broke it, gave it to his followers and said: “Do this in remembrance of me.”

In the same way he took the cup, blessed it, served it to his followers, and said, “Drink from this every one of you. Do this to remember me.”

And so, we remember … and so, we offer our praise and thanks, and our very lives in union with Christ’s offering for us, as we proclaim the mystery of faith: So, we call on you to send your Holy Spirit on us once more, and on these gifts of bread and fruit of the vine. Let them be for us once more a reminder that we are Christ’s body resurrected and alive in the world today. Make us one with Christ, one with each other, and one in ministry to all the world, until Christ comes again and we feast at his table.

With all the saints who share your name and our flesh, we raise this song, until we hear in fullness, the harmony of heaven:

God of the Dawn, Christ of the new Day Coming, Spirit who is Ever-Present, we recommit ourselves to your way this day. Amen.

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 Jesus’ name. Amen.

All that we have is a gift from God. In faith and gratitude, we return now a portion of what we have so abundantly received, as grateful heirs of the promises of God.

Gracious God, we dedicate to you not only these gifts, but also ourselves, in deep gratitude-for your call on our lives, your guidance in the baptismal journey, and for blessing us that we may be a blessing to others. Accept what we bring for your own good purposes. In Christ we pray. Amen.

As you go out and come in, may God keep you by sunlight and moonlight; may Christ encompass you with love; and may the Holy Spirit empower you. Remember how much God loves this world and so, love the world in the name of Christ, that your testimony becomes the good news. Amen.