What Do You Yield?

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.

Our Father, Who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name; Thy kindom come; Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread; and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us; And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kindom, and the power, and the glory forever. Amen.

Holy God, we were yours before we drew breath, and still we will be yours when the pulse of life ceases. In every fragile, reckless moment, we belong to you. We thank you for the desire of our parents who gave us life. May the love we have received spill gratitude from our hearts. May the wounds we carry open our hearts to the needs of others. May we recognize in your mercy the faithfulness that judges and redeems every human bond.

God is the one who walks with us in times of celebration and grief.

Loving God, you have given us the gift of the indwelling Spirit, that your church may be faithful, loving, and wise. Give us strength to follow the way of Jesus until the world is transformed from rocky soil to verdant garden.

God is the one who walks with us in times of celebration and grief.

Eternal God, you have made us for a noble purpose, to love and care for those who are sick, those who suffer need, and those who are in danger. Give us compassion and skill to love our neighbor and see the well-being of those in need.

God is the one who walks with us in times of celebration and grief.

Creator God, your faithfulness is revealed in the rhythmic nature of creation, and your sanctuary is known in the earth itself. Rid us of the apathy and greed that injures its health, for you have bound your creation together for the blessing of all.

God is the one who walks with us in times of celebration and grief.

Oneing God, you call us into community in worship to turn our focus to you that we might experience life greater than self, make us one with the saints, who have found their eternal rest in you. Amen.

God of life, by the power of your Spirit come to us now. Plow our hearts with your verdant Word until we who are broken become fertile with your love, for we long to bear fruit in a world that is wasting. We ask this in the name of Jesus, whose charge we bear. Amen.

Life in the Spirit ¹ Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. ² For the law of the Spiritof life in Christ Jesus has set youfree from the law of sin and of death. ³ For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do: by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and to deal with sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, ⁴ so that the just requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. ⁵ For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spiritset their minds on the things of the Spirit. ⁶ To set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. ⁷ For this reason the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God; it does not submit to God’s law— indeed, it cannot, ⁸ and those who are in the flesh cannot please God. ⁹ But you are not in the flesh; you are in the Spirit, since the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him. ¹⁰ But if Christ is in you, then the body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. ¹¹ If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesusfrom the dead will give life to your mortal bodies also throughhis Spirit that dwells in you. Matthew 13:1-9, 18-23 The Parable of the Sower ¹ That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat beside the sea. ² Such great crowds gathered around him that he got into a boat and sat there, while the whole crowd stood on the beach. ³ And he told them many things in parables, saying: “Listen! A sower went out to sow. ⁴ And as he sowed, some seeds fell on a path, and the birds came and ate them up. ⁵ Other seeds fell on rocky ground, where they did not have much soil, and they sprang up quickly, since they had no depth of soil. ⁶ But when the sun rose, they were scorched, and since they had no root, they withered away. ⁷ Other seeds fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them. ⁸ Other seeds fell on good soil and brought forth grain, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. ⁹ If you have ears, hear!” The Parable of the Sower Explained ¹⁸ “Hear, then, the parable of the sower. ¹⁹ When anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what is sown in the heart; this is what was sown on the path. ²⁰ As for what was sown on rocky ground, this is the one who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy, ²¹ yet such a person has no root but endures only for a while, and when trouble or persecution arises on account of the word, that person immediately falls away. ²² As for what was sown among thorns, this is the one who hears the word, but the cares of thisage and the lure of wealth choke the word, and it yields nothing. ²³ But as for what was sown on good soil, this is the one who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and yields in one case a hundredfold, in another sixty, and in another thirty.”

How is God’s Spirit at work in you and in our community? Where are you experiencing new life? Where are struggling? How might God be bringing new life from that struggle?

We bring our gifts because the abundant growth of God’s love has worked its way into the soil of our hearts. Siblings, let us yield our lives to God’s abundant harvest.

Giver of life, we do not want the cares of the world and the lure of wealth to choke your word among us. As the sower casts the seeds abundantly and hopefully, so we long to participate in your seeding of the world. Receive these gifts as tokens of our lives. Send your cultivating spirit to work among us until we yield and grow in grace, for we pray in the way of Jesus, who came out of love for the world. Amen.

Siblings, sow the gospel wherever you go — not judging the soil on which you stand — for God brings forth fruit from unexpected places. Amen.