Prelude - I Have Found a Friend in Jesus [J.R. Murray] - Sarah Park
Opening Scripture - Ecclesiastes 4:9-12
9 Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their toil. 10For if they fall, one will lift up the other; but woe to one who is alone and falls and does not have another to help. 11Again, if two lie together, they keep warm; but how can one keep warm alone? 12And though one might prevail against another, two will withstand one. A threefold cord is not quickly broken.
*Response - Weave
Weave, weave, weave us together, Weave us together, in unity and love.
Weave, weave, weave us together, weave us together, together in love.
*Call to Worship - Laura Parker
ONE: Healing God, we come together in our brokenness, to call to you in your mercy, to make us whole again
ALL: Wholeness–giving God, listen to our prayers, we pray.
ONE: Restoring God, we gather to worship you, even as we hopefully seek to be renewed and restored again.
ALL: God, our Quiet-Center, listen to our prayers this day.
ONE: Foundational God, we come to praise and thank you! In the depths of your Holy Being we find peace and rest.
ALL: God – our Beginning and our End, we hope always in you. Amen.
written by Joan Stott
*Opening Hymn - All Hail the Power of Jesus’ Name #91, v.1, 4-5 music by Jan Green
1 All hail the power of Jesus' name!
Let angels prostrate fall;
bring forth the royal diadem,
and crown him Lord of all;
bring forth the royal diadem,
and crown him Lord of all.
4 Let every kindred, every tribe,
on this terrestrial ball,
to him all majesty ascribe,
and crown him Lord of all;
to him all majesty ascribe,
and crown him Lord of all.
5 O that with yonder sacred throng
we at his feet may fall!
We'll join the everlasting song,
and crown him Lord of all;
We'll join the everlasting song,
and crown him Lord of all.
Invitation to Generosity - Laura Parker
Invitation
Offertory - “Blessed Assurance, Jesus is Mine” by P.P. Knapp
The Doxology #46
Praise God from whom all blessings flow; praise God, all creatures here below;
praise God above, ye heavenly host: Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Amen.
Offering Prayer
Children’s Moment Rev. Chad Delaney
Pastoral Prayer Rev. Chad Delaney
In our prayer today, when I say, Lord, in your mercy, you say “hear our prayer.”
Welcoming God,
like the Israelites in the wilderness, we too have known Your love, and experienced Your care and provision. You call us to extend Your love to the world around us—to care for others as deeply as we care for ourselves. And so we bring the needs of our world before You now….
In Your mercy, hear our prayer.
We pray for those who do not have what they need in order to survive;
those without enough food to eat, or shelter to keep them warm;
those without employment, or enough money to pay their bills;
those without access to medical care, or medicine to keep them healthy.
Lord, in Your mercy, hear our prayer.
We pray for those who have more than enough to meet their needs, but who continue to feel empty inside; who struggle to find meaning and purpose in life,
who turn to alcohol, drugs, or other destructive behaviors to try and hide the pain,
who entertain thoughts of suicide.
Lord, in Your mercy, hear our prayer.
We pray for those who are struggling physically, who are battling life-threatening disease or injury,
who are living with chronic pain, who are coping with Alzheimers, or facing death.
Lord, in Your mercy, hear our prayer.
God of the first and the last, and all those in between,
Your grace reaches out to all of us—life-long believers or newcomers alike.
You call us to live as citizens of heaven, to work together with one mind and one purpose,
to reach out in love to those in need.
Strengthen us so that we might live in a manner worthy of the Good News we have received,
offering our lives to the building up of Your upside-down kingdom, where the last are first, and the first are last, and there is grace enough for all.
Lord, in Your mercy, hear our prayer.
We lift to you now our silent prayers of joy and concern….In the name of Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord, Amen.
Communion
Meditation - Ally Bozeka
Communion Hymn - One Bread, One Body #393
[REFRAIN] 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. [REFRAIN]
Many the gifts, many the works, one in the Lord of all. [REFRAIN]
Grain for the fields, scattered and grown, gathered to one for all. [REFRAIN]
Prayer & Lord’s Prayer - Ally Bozeka
Words of Institution
Music: “Alas! And did my Saviour bleed?” by R.E. Hudson
Special Music - The Strife is O’er Tr. Francis Pott, 17th C
Quartet: Ally Bozeka, Jon Bozeka, Chad Delaney, Jon Secaur
Scripture - Philippians 1:1-11
1Paul and Timothy, servants of Christ Jesus,
To all the saints in Christ Jesus who are in Philippi, with the bishops and deacons:
2 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
3 I thank my God every time I remember you, 4constantly praying with joy in every one of my prayers for all of you, 5because of your sharing in the gospel from the first day until now. 6I am confident of this, that the one who began a good work among you will bring it to completion by the day of Jesus Christ. 7It is right for me to think this way about all of you, because you hold me in your heart, for all of you share in God’s grace with me, both in my imprisonment and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel. 8For God is my witness, how I long for all of you with the compassion of Christ Jesus. 9And this is my prayer, that your love may overflow more and more with knowledge and full insight 10to help you to determine what is best, so that on the day of Christ you may be pure and blameless, 11having produced the harvest of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ for the glory and praise of God.
Sermon - Partnership in the Gospel - Rev. Chad Delaney
A few weeks ago I had the joy of spending time with one of my dear friends over dinner. He and I knew of each other at Camp Christian growing up. We went to Hiram College together and Vanderbilt Divinity School. He was a year ahead and not only got his Master’s of Divinity but also graduated from the Law School at Vanderbilt. He has both practiced labor law and has been an interim pastor with multiple churches in the United States. Now he’s serving as a United States Navy Chaplain. His passion for serving others and being a voice for those hurting the most has persisted in his career.
His new life in the military is fascinating. He had just gotten back from a 9 month deployment and was so glad to see his family and to visit with some people he hadn’t seen in awhile. He came back with a whole new set of language, abbreviations, and acronyms that I had to stop him every few minutes to try to understand. Some things I gathered from him:
- There was lots of diversity and people in the Navy for different reasons
- Everyone is very clear about who you are and your role.
- Every person has a share in the success and failure of the mission.
- Everyone works together to keep the ship running at full capacity.
After this conversation some wisdom a conference speaker gave me years ago came even more to life. The pastor asked….”Is your church a cruise ship or a battleship?”
Now this analogy can only take you so far, but their point was clear….are most people on board to be tourists and be served OR do most people participate as in all-hands-on-deck?
Our passage today is the beginning of Paul’s letter to the Philippians…it is likely one of the oldest (if not the oldest) writings of the New Testament. Yes, even before the Gospels were written down.
What’s fascinating and remarkable already is by this point in the story of the early community there were already some distinctions being made of their roles. There were deacons -- who were servants, ministers, and administrators. There were bishops who were overseers of the churches. There were saints -- in other words, the people of the church called to ministry in the name of Jesus Christ.
And at this very beginning of the letter, Paul prays for them. In particular he gives thanks for them. He writes, “3 I thank my God every time I remember you, 4constantly praying with joy in every one of my prayers for all of you,”
And WHY????
Was it because they all listened to his long sermons?
Was it because they had a great committee meeting?
Was it because they gave a lot to the general fund?
No…It was “5because of your sharing in the gospel from the first day until now.”
This phrase “your sharing in the gospel” contains one of the most powerful words in the New Testament -- koinonia. This word is used in other places as a way to describe the transformational fellowship of those who minister in the name of Jesus Christ. In this context, it means a partnership in the most literal sense.
Dr. Katharine Shaner of Wake Forest Divinity School offers this description of koinonia,
The Greek word [in this passage] that the NRSV translates “sharing” is koinonia…It is a concrete, discrete group of people. A koinonia in the ancient world is literally a partnership. And not just a “hey, we’re all on the same team” partnership. It’s a partnership that is formalized, recognizable to the outside, and often with tangible goals.”
Koinonia isn’t some abstract idea, but a concrete reality. These Philippians have decided they aren’t a disparate group of people that happen to converge on a building once a week to meet and sing and pray…but a partnership of kindred hearts and minds working together to help change the world.
As a congregation we have been through thick and thin. So much has happened in these last few years and together we have come through it. It is time to refocus our energies. To dream God’s dream about who we are and what God is calling us to. Who are we in the community? Our music? For our children? For one another in service and learning and fellowship? What kind of Partnership in the Gospel do we have?
- We have lots of diversity and people in our church for different reasons
- We aspire to find a place for all that all might know how they can contribute.
- Everyone of us matters and has a share in the success of who we are together.
- We need all of us to work together to keep our church living and loving in the Name of Jesus Christ.
I’m inviting everyone in our church to a time of prayer. I’ve already invited our leaders to begin taking stock of where we are and preparing ourselves to discern where God is calling us to be. To name it…to be recognizable to the outside, and have tangible goals to shoot for. AND…We want everyone to be a part of that. We need all hands-on-deck--ready to participate, to serve, to offer their eyes, ears, voices, wisdom, and prayers so that together we can continue to be a force for good in the world.
For this Koinonia--this partnership, this sharing in the Gospel, is not for the purpose of benefiting ourselves, but to love our neighbors, to glorify God. The Apostle Paul prayed, “so that your love may overflow more and more with knowledge and full insight 10to help you to determine what is best, so that on the day of Christ you may be pure and blameless, 11having produced the harvest of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ for the glory and praise of God.”
May God continue to bless us and bind us together in partnership through the power of the Holy Spirit. May it be so, Amen.
*Closing Hymn - Sister Let Me Be Your Servant #490, v. 1-4
Sister, let me be your servant.
brother, let me walk with you;
Pray that I might have the grace
To let you be my servant, too.
We are pilgrims on a journey.
fellow trav'lers on the road.
We are here to help each other
Walk the mile and bear the load.
I will weep when you are weeping.
When you laugh, I'll laugh with you.
I will share your joy and sorrow
Till we've seen this journey thro'.
When we sing to God in heaven,
We shall find such harmony
Born of all we've known together
Of great love and agony.
Benediction - Rev. Chad Delaney
May God,
who began the good work within you,
continue to be at work in your life,
May your love for others overflow more and more,
and may you keep growing in your knowledge and understanding.
As together, we give much glory and praise to God now and always!
Postlude - “The Trusting Heart to Jesus Clings” [by W.J. Kirkpatrick] - Sarah Park