Upside Down

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, as we turn to the words of love you have inspired, we look for the light in these words and in your Spirit, we seek guidance for bring that light into the world, manifesting your love in physical ways and that change the lives of those in need around us. May we hear your words of love now. Amen.

God of all, thank you for hearing these prayers: For the human family with whom we share this world — those closest to us and those whose names we will never know —

We give you thanks and ask your help in living into our identity as your children.

For the world we share with all creation — the plants and animals we see each day and the wilderness we have never seen —

We give you thanks and ask for your help in living into our identity as stewards of your earth.

For local, national, and international leaders — those whose policies we appreciate and those with whom we struggle —

We give you thanks and ask that you be at their side, guiding them to act in justice and mercy.

Hear the prayers we lift in silence or out loud in this moment. For the joys and concerns that occupy our thoughts today — those we name aloud and those we ponder inwardly —

Amen. We give you thanks and ask that you would be at their side, guiding them to recognize that their help is in the name of God who called forth order from chaos. Amen.

Ever-present God, whose compassion embraces everyone, give us your words of life that our hearts may increase in your way of love as we turn to your word together. Amen.

¹ I appeal to you therefore, brothers and sisters, on the basis of God’s mercy, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your reasonable act of worship. ² Do not be conformed to this age, but be transformed by the renewing of the mind, so that you may discern what is the will of God—what is good and acceptable and perfect. ³ For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of yourself more highly than you ought to think but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned. ⁴ For as in one body we have many members and not all the members have the same function, ⁵ so we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually we are members one of another. ⁶ We have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us: prophecy, in proportion to faith; ⁷ ministry, in ministering; the teacher, in teaching; ⁸ the encourager, in encouragement; the giver, in sincerity; the leader, in diligence; the compassionate, in cheerfulness.

¹³ Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” ¹⁴ And they said, “Some say John the Baptist but others Elijah and still others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” ¹⁵ He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” ¹⁶ Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” ¹⁷ And Jesus answered him, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you but my Father in heaven. ¹⁸ And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it. ¹⁹ I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” ²⁰ Then he sternly ordered the disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Messiah. ²¹ From that time on, Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and undergo great suffering at the hands of the elders and chief priests and scribes and be killed and on the third day be raised. ²² And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him, saying, “God forbid it, Lord! This must never happen to you.” ²³ But he turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a hindrance to me, for you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things.”

When have you succeeded in resisting the forces that seek to conform us to this world? Where have you experienced the Spirit guiding you to turn the world upside down? Where have you succeeded? What might it take for you to succeed where you have previously failed? How might we as a community work to overturn this world and turn the world into God’s Kindom?

(playing his own arrangement)

Siblings, God has blessed us with many gifts and Jesus has shown us in the way of love that these gifts are not ours alone. Let us then dedicate our lives and our gifts to the way of Jesus.

Gracious God, we thank you for the gifts that you have given to us to share: prophetic acts of service, teaching and leading, encouragement, diligence, and cheerfulness, giving without strings attached. Increase our generosity, compassion, and prophetic courage so that we may continue to be your body in and for the world. Amen.

May God who restores, Christ who calls, and the Spirit who empowers remind us that we are called to be one body in Christ and we do not walk or work alone. May we experience the presence and power of God’s love as we go out together to turn this self-focused world upside down. Amen.