Gathering Music: Come Christians, Join To Sing
arr. by. Eugene Englert [tune: Madrid (a Spanish folk melody)]
Jan Green
Welcome (live)
This is the Day that the Lord has Made! Let us Rejoice!
Welcome to the Mantua Center Christian Church
- we are a community seeking to have…
- Welcome whether You are here at church or worshiping with us online.
- Day of Kindness - this Saturday!
- Tuesday night study continues
- Great news from the Governor and CDC this week! Your Gathering Team has met and making plans.
- Stay for a conversation circle after worship
- Board Meeting at noon over Zoom
- In worship today, we will be reconnecting with what the roots of our relationship with God. Sometimes we can forget and today’s scripture is a good reminder.
- As we prepare for worship, let’s listen to our scripture reading by
Opening Scripture: Psalm 133 (live) - Jon Secaur
*Response - Weave
*Call to Worship (live) - Chad
ONE: I tell you this: It is a wonderful thing when members of the family live together in love and peace.
ALL: They shall be like trees planted beside flowing rivers.
ONE: May the church be one, just as Christ and God are one, that Christ may be glorified in us.
ALL: They shall yield good fruit in its season,and their leaf shall never wither.
ONE: The grace, mercy and peace, of the Lord Jesus,be with you all.
ALL: And also with you.
By Bruce Prewer based on Psalm 1 and John 17
*Song of Praise: We Gather Together
1 We gather together to ask the Lord’s blessing;
He chastens and hastens his will to make known;
The wicked oppressing now cease from distressing.
Sing praises to his name; he forgets not his own.
2 Beside us to guide us, our God with us joining,
Ordaining, maintaining his kingdom divine;
So from the beginning the fight we were winning;
Thou, Lord, wast at our side; all glory be thine!
3 We all do extol thee, thou leader triumphant,
And pray that thou still our defender wilt be.
Let thy congregation escape tribulation;
Thy name be ever praised! O Lord, make us free!
Children’s Moment (live) - Ally Hurd
Pastoral Prayer (live) - Sarah Smith
As we enter into this conversation with the divine, I invite you to pause this video and prepare your space. Perhaps open the window to feel and smell that fresh spring air. Light a candle to feel the warmth of the divine in your home or wherever you find yourself this morning. Then, find a comfortable praying position.If it feels right, let your feet fall flat on the floor. Unclench the muscles of your jaw, relax the muscles of your spine. Roll your shoulders back, away from your ears. Take a deep breath in… and out… as we meet God exactly where we are.
God of the curious and the wise,
We come to you this morning in awe of the creation around us, thankful for the changing seasons and outlooks as we shake off the vestiges of winter one storm at a time. As your children, we marvel at the world you have given us to explore - new horizons and ideas at our fingertips. Like the spring, we enjoy and are thankful for the newness, the openness, the tenderness of this season.
As we go into this period of newness, we ask for your blessings of grace and wisdom and love. May we know when to stretch ourselves and listen. May we be compassionate towards ourselves and others. May we continue to grow together as one family. May we bless and support each other as you bless and support us. In the silence, we lift our prayers of thanksgiving to you.
Holy Mother of us all, like a family, there are times when we do not see eye to eye. In our human-ness, sometimes our egos get in the way of our divine call to love and be loved. We become afraid of the leap of faith and resentful of those around us who show courage. We covet the experiences of those around us instead of recognizing our own blessings. May we find peace and understanding here in your presence today. May our minds and hearts be opened to the infinite love and support and courage that you offer us if we only chose to let go of our barriers and live fully the life you call us to.
In the silence, we lift to you our sorrows and our concerns.
In your holy name we are called together here today,
Amen.
Scripture Reading Galatians 3:23-29
Sermon Competition or Cooperation?
Galatians 3:23-29
23 Now before faith came, we were imprisoned and guarded under the law until faith would be revealed. 24Therefore the law was our disciplinarian until Christ came, so that we might be justified by faith. 25But now that faith has come, we are no longer subject to a disciplinarian, 26for in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith. 27As many of you as were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. 28There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus. 29And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to the promise.
Competition or Cooperation?
The famous American Rabbi Harold Kushner once wrote about a bright, driven pre-med student at a very competitive college. While traveling in the East the summer before his junior year, he met a guru who said, “Don’t you see you’re poisoning your soul with this success-oriented way of life? Your idea of happiness is to stay up all night studying for an exam so you can get a better grade than your best friend. Your idea of a good marriage is not to find the someone who will match your soul, but to win the one everybody else wants. That is not how people are supposed to live. Come join us in an atmosphere where we all share and love one another.”
He was ripe for this. He called his parents and told them he was dropping out of school to live in an ashram. Six months later, they received a letter from him:
Dear Mom and Dad,
I know you weren’t happy about my decision, but I want to tell you how it has changed me. For the first time in my life, I’m at peace. Here there is no competing, no trying to get ahead of anyone. This way of life is so in harmony with my inner soul that in only six months I’ve become the #2 disciple in the entire community, and I think I can be #1 by June.
Competition. The advancement in your own personal skills whether they be a sport, hobby, or professional interest. Competition has more than likely fueled your drive, effort, and determination to succeed. Sometimes competition can bring out the best of us.
That being said, it can also get in the way. It can cloud the goals we are striving for.
I experienced a great way of illustrating this that I may have told you about before. I was part of a big group and everyone was asked to get in pairs for a group Thumb War contest. The goal was to get the MOST thumb pins in 1 minute. So the leader said “Go” and I faced off with my partner. After a minute, it was 2 to 1 and I was winning. Others around the room reported 1, 2, or 3 pins at most. Sometimes zero. Ok, then...let’s try again. Remember...the most pins wins!
Well, I went back at it with my partner and after a minute we came back together. We were tied up 3-to-3. But one of the groups said 150. Yeah OK. They said, one person just put their thumb down and the other just “pin” it over and over again. “You can’t do that” I thought...but the leader said, “Awesome. Congrats” There was confusion in the room, but people realized what was going on. Paired off for a Thumb War contest we had automatically assumed we were in competition with each other….instead of thinking of the pairs as a team. Our whole group total could have been so much bigger if we had worked together.
The Apostle Paul’s letter to the Galatians highlights some of the seeds of division and competition that were present amongst the early church. There were conflicts about who’s ideas and beliefs and teachings were going to win out in the end. There were a lot of major figures in the tradition who disagreed on stuff (Peter, Paul, and James)What are they to do about money, food, circumcision, the works of the law, rituals, buildings, worship...all of their differences? Who was going to win?
Now, I would like to say that the Apostle Paul modeled a non-competitive spirit…..BUT in his letters you can hear his fire and passion as he did battle with others on what the true teachings of the church should be. He even pitted two different churches against each other to see which one might give the most! So, of course, there is a place in the church and between human beings for debate, disagreement, division, and competition. There is absolutely such a thing as healthy conflict, healthy competition that can lead to growth and new ideas. People standing up for what is right and helping move us forward as human beings and God’s people with justice and love. This is essential actually. All that being said...we need to listen for the Holy Spirit’s guidance in figuring out when it is time for competition and when it is time for cooperation. I’m wondering on how many missed opportunities there have been when the church saw competition when cooperation could have done so much more?
Franklin D. Roosevelt once said, “Competition has been shown to be useful up to a certain point and no further, but cooperation, which is the thing we must strive for today, begins where competition leaves off.”
When we think of our churches….our families…..our relationships….our work….are there times we have too often seen each other as competitors or even enemies….instead of teammates? Have we let jealousy and envy fester in personal relationships? The dog-eat-dog attitude to infiltrate our work, our politics, our religion, even our parenting and relationships with loved ones? This competitive spirit, despite its good aspects, can also slow us down, can prevent us from finding common ground, or exploring how we can work together.
Ultimately, despite all of our differences and disagreements we are called to remember that all ultimately we’re in this together and we are stronger together than pitted against each other. In the Garden long ago, Christ prayed, ”‘I ask not only on behalf of these, but also on behalf of those who will believe in me through their word, 21that they may all be one.” Paul, along with his fire for what he believes, provides us with a reminder that ultimately we are not competitors, but one in the same in the eyes of God. “28There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus.” All of us children of God. All of us on the same team, living and working together to build God’s Kindom of love, joy, hope, and love. May it be so.
Communion
Meditation (live) Tim Bennett
Communion Hymn - One Bread, One Body
One bread, one body, one Lord of all, one cup of blessing which we bless. And we, though many, throughout the earth, we are one body in this one Lord.
Gentile or Jew, servant or free, woman or man no more.
One bread, one body, one Lord of all, one cup of blessing which we bless. And we, though many, throughout the earth, we are one body in this one Lord.
Many the gifts, many the works, one in the Lord of all.
One bread, one body, one Lord of all, one cup of blessing which we bless. And we, though many, throughout the earth, we are one body in this one Lord.
Grain for the fields, scattered and grown, gathered to one for all.
One bread, one body, one Lord of all, one cup of blessing which we bless. And we, though many, throughout the earth, we are one body
Prayer & Lord’s Prayer (live) - Tim Bennett
Words of Institution (live) - Chad Delaney
Distribution
Closing Hymn - The Church’s One Foundation
The church’s one foundation is Jesus Christ, our Lord;
we are a new creation by water and the Word.
From heav’n he came and taught us what perfect love can be;
through life and death he sought us, and rose to set us free.
The church in ev’ry nation is one through all the earth;
our charter of salvation, one God, one faith, one birth;
one name together blessing, one holy food we share,
to one hope ever pressing, at one in work and prayer.
Yet we on earth have union with God, the Three in One,
and mystic, sweet communion with those whose rest is won.
Oh, happy ones and holy! God, give us grace that we,
like them, the meek and lowly, may live eternally.
*Benediction (live) - Sarah Smith
Thank you so much for joining us here at Mantua Center this week for worship. You could have chosen to walk through the scripture with another community, and we are blessed to join you as you join us on this journey.
If you are here at the Sanctuary with us, don’t forget to stick around for fellowship and time to discuss today’s service! Whether you are here or at home, we will also have a board meeting today at noon via zoom, and we have picked back up with our lifestudy on Tuesday night! Jon Secaur has found a really cool video on the story of Moses! If you are interested in either of those, please check your email for information on how to join us!
Hear now our benediction:
When you go out into this world to serve God’s mission,
remember that it is no longer you who live,
but Christ who lives in you.
The life you now live in the flesh
you live by faith in the Son of God
who loves you and gave himself for you.
May the grace of God which daily renews us,
and the love of Jesus that enables us to love all others,
and the community of the Holy Spirit that unites us into one body
enable and empower us to follow the compassion of God,
now and forever; Amen.
Departing Music - O Jesus, I Have Promised
arr. by Steven Scott [tune: Angel’s Story by Arthur H. Mann]
Jan Green