Prelude - “Softly and Tenderly Jesus is Calling” [W. L. Thompson] Sarah Park
We are a community seeking to have open minds, open hearts, and open arms, building community in a fragmented world. Welcome to the Mantua Center Christian Church
Opening Scripture - Philippians 4:10-13 - Chad Delaney
10 How I praise the Lord that you are concerned about me again. I know you have always been concerned for me, but you didn’t have the chance to help me. 11 Not that I was ever in need, for I have learned how to be content with whatever I have. 12 I know how to live on almost nothing or with everything. I have learned the secret of living in every situation, whether it is with a full stomach or empty, with plenty or little. 13 For I can do everything through Christ, who gives me strength.
*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 - Ryan & Karly Lind
ONE: We come to share together to celebrate the God who is present amongst us.
ALL: The Lord our God is our strength and song, and is even now our salvation.
ONE: We come to share together to celebrate with all the world, that the Lord is God.
ALL: With joy we gather around God’s fountain of grace to be refreshed and renewed.
ONE: Thank the Lord, our Mighty God! ALL: Praise God’s holy name! Amen.
~ written by Joan Stott
*Opening Hymn - “Take Time to be Holy” #572, v.1&3
1 Take time to be holy, speak oft with thy Lord;
abide in him always, and feed on his word.
Make friends of God's children, help those who are weak,
forgetting in nothing God's blessing to seek.
3 Take time to be holy, let him be thy guide,
and run not before him, whatever betide;
in joy or in sorrow, still follow the Lord,
and, looking to Jesus, still trust in his word.
Invitation to Generosity
Invitation - Ryan & Karly Lind
Offertory “When we Walk With the Lord” [by J.S. NorrisW. H. Doane]
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 - Liz Meeker
Children’s Moment - Rev. Chad Delaney
- This Little Light of Mine
Pastoral Prayer - Rev. Chad Delaney
Holy One, we celebrate that where people are gathered together in love: You are present and good things happen and life is full.
We celebrate that we are immersed in your mystery. That our lives are more than they seem: That we belong to each other and are a part of something bigger than ourselves. An extraordinary universe and Creation you call us to care for.
We celebrate that your spirit rest in the heart and life of Jesus of Nazareth: The good news of your healing, embracing and liberating love was heard by the broken, the lonely and all bound by life’s sorrows and struggles.
We celebrate that the spirit of peace and hope is present with us and through us: In our struggle to love, in the worries and busy-ness of life, in our doubt and fear…we still long to incarnate your holy presence in the world. Live and move through us.
In these moments Lord we lift to you the places of tenderness, hurt, grief, and pain in our lives….
We lift to you the places of grave injustice, harm, and violence in our world….
We lift to you the concerns and joys of our hearts….
And so, aware of the hurts and longings all of us carry, the awe and wonder that is around us, and the gifts of faith and this community of faith: We pause and we become ever aware of the sacredness of our lives and how you love us.
In that awareness may we act and speak and live…in your Name.
May it be so…
Communion
Meditation - Pete Pruszynski
Communion Hymn - “You Satisfy a Hungry Heart” #429, v.1,2&4
[Refrain]
You satisfy a hungry heart with gift of finest wheat;
Come give to us, O saving Lord, the bread of life to eat.
With joyful lips we sing to you our praise and gratitude, that you should count us worthy, Lord, to share this heavenly food. [Refrain]
Is not the cup we bless and share the blood of Christ outpoured?
Do not one cup, one loaf, declare our oneness in the Lord? [Refrain]
You give yourself to us, O Lord; then selfless let us be, to serve each other in your name and truth and charity [Refrain]
Prayer & Lord’s Prayer - Pete Pruszynski
Words of Institution - Rev. Chad Delaney
Music: “Have You Been to Jesus” [by E. A. Hoffman ]
Scripture - Exodus 1:8-22
Prayer:
God, source of all light by your Word, you give light to the soul. Pour out on us the spirit of wisdom and understanding and joy, that our hearts and minds may be opened to know you and your way. Amen.
8 Now a new king arose over Egypt, who did not know Joseph. 9He said to his people, ‘Look, the Israelite people are more numerous and more powerful than we. 10Come, let us deal shrewdly with them, or they will increase and, in the event of war, join our enemies and fight against us and escape from the land.’ 11Therefore they set taskmasters over them to oppress them with forced labour. They built supply cities, Pithom and Rameses, for Pharaoh. 12But the more they were oppressed, the more they multiplied and spread, so that the Egyptians came to dread the Israelites. 13The Egyptians became ruthless in imposing tasks on the Israelites, 14and made their lives bitter with hard service in mortar and brick and in every kind of field labour. They were ruthless in all the tasks that they imposed on them.
15 The king of Egypt said to the Hebrew midwives, one of whom was named Shiphrah and the other Puah, 16‘When you act as midwives to the Hebrew women, and see them on the birthstool, if it is a boy, kill him; but if it is a girl, she shall live.’ 17But the midwives feared God; they did not do as the king of Egypt commanded them, but they let the boys live. 18So the king of Egypt summoned the midwives and said to them, ‘Why have you done this, and allowed the boys to live?’ 19The midwives said to Pharaoh, ‘Because the Hebrew women are not like the Egyptian women; for they are vigorous and give birth before the midwife comes to them.’ 20So God dealt well with the midwives; and the people multiplied and became very strong. 21And because the midwives feared God, he gave them families. 22Then Pharaoh commanded all his people, ‘Every boy that is born to the Hebrews you shall throw into the Nile, but you shall let every girl live.’
Sermon - Shiphrah and Puah - Rev. Chad Delaney
Over my vacation, I got a little R&R, we took our oldest son C.J. to college, and enjoyed our family time. I had some cleaning projects to take care of. I took a couple days to clean out the garage. Like…put everything on the front lawn, sweep out, and re-organize everything. It was a lot but glad it was done. I also cleaned out the cars and detailed them.
So as I’m doing all this stuff I couldn’t help but think that some of these cleaning projects are an act of futility. (1) The second Law of Thermodynamics is entropy and its basically that in the universe, things generally go from order to disorder. It was explained to me as a basic law of nature: if a vase falls off a table, it shatters into a million pieces. It goes from order to disorder. AND…it wouldn’t--over the course of time-- somehow go back together into the vase.
So my thought is…clearly my garage is going along this inevitable pathway according to the laws of the universe…so why fight it? With life and kids and busy-ness…The garage is going to get dirty and disorganized. The cars are definitely going to get messy with the fall/winter coming. Do I really need to clean the strip of cloth between the seats?
Ok as silly as this might sound…have you ever taken this garage philosophy to more important things in life? That chaos and disorder and struggle are just inevitable, so why bother?
- Why even try to talk with someone I love about this hard issue? They are not going to listen anyways and its just gonna make it worse.
- Why even bother with politics and government policies? They are only going to work out of self-interest and we aren’t gonna make any difference.
- Why even try to volunteer time and energy and money for big justice issues…the inevitability of sin and injustice is rampant.
- Why even try to get my life together emotionally, physically, financially, spiritually….it's a mess and it will always be that way.
- Ever get a little of the garage philosophy going in your mind and heart?
(2) So many times in life, we can be tempted to just give in. Based in frustration, experience, or seemingly extraordinary odds, we just stop. Our attempts to care, to give, to be present, to even have hope…can feel like an exercise in futility.
(3) So check out Shiphrah and Puah in our passage today. If anyone had a reason to give in and give up it was them. Shiphrah and Puah were midwives, called to accompany and aid women through the harrowing act of childbirth in the ancient world. Pharaoh orders them to do something evil. Something against every fabric of their moral and ethical being and they were in a seemingly impossible position.
- Enslaved by the Egyptians, every part of their world was designed to crush their hope and squelch their joy.
- Their enslavers were ruthless and cruel and violent.
- The most powerful and feared person in their world--Pharaoh--was breathing down their neck.
- AND…They probably knew that if they didn’t do as Pharaoh said, Pharaoh would still find a way to carry out his violent plan anyway. Which he did.
- Submit or flee.
YET…amazingly Shiphrah and Puah stood up to and out-maneuvered Pharaoh. Because of their faith in God, they did not give in to this madness. They didn’t dare believe they were powerless in the face of it. They could have easily talked themselves out of even TRYING to do something...yet because of their faith…they resisted. As Alice Walker said, “The most common way people give up their power is by thinking they don't have any.” Instead they embraced it and did what they could with what they had.
Today I want to celebrate and give thanks for Shiphrah and Puah, for the midwives, for every person whose hope and determination remains in the face of the epic struggles of life. Who are the midwives of today? In this time and place, we need people of faith like these to keep hope alive, to never give up on goodness. Shiphrah and Puah exemplified what faithfulness and perseverance looks like in the face of evil. What faith and hopeful resistance looks like in a world that is always, seemingly spiraling into disorder and madness. Apathy is a boon to moral entropy and the midwives said, “NO”.
There are times the messy garage thinking gets the better of us: Why bother? Why even try? Why put forth the energy, effort? In these moments of discouragement…REMEMBER the MIDWIVES. Today I hear a message for anyone that feels that something in their life is too messy, too hopeless, too impossible to keep moving. To use the power we do have to do all the good we can. For every act of love, kindness, and resilience matters.
May our faith in the God who loves us, strengthens us, and calls us move us to courage, to love, to faith so we can live and love in the transforming power of living God in the Name of Jesus Christ. May we remember we are never alone. May it be so. Amen.
*Closing Hymn - “I Need Thee Every Hour” #578
1 I need thee every hour, most gracious Lord;
no tender voice like thine can peace afford.
[Refrain:]
I need thee, oh, I need thee; every hour I need thee;
O bless me now, my Savior, I come to thee.
2 I need thee every hour; stay thou near by;
temptations lose their power when thou art nigh. [Refrain]
3 I need thee every hour in joy or pain;
come quickly, and abide or life is vain. [Refrain]
4 I need thee every hour, teach me thy will,
and thy rich promises in me fulfill. [Refrain]
Benediction - Rev. Chad Delaney
Be glad in the Lord always!
Again I say, be glad!
Focus your thoughts on all that is true,
all that is holy, all that is just,
all that is pure, all that is lovely,
and all that is worthy of praise.
Practice these things,
and the God of peace will be with you.
Postlude - “Glory to Jesus, Who Died on the Cross” [by P. P. Bilhorn] - Sarah Park