Sunday, September 27, 2020 - when we've screwed up royally

Theme: The Art of Falling Apart - David and Nathan: when we’ve screwed up royally

Prayer

2 Samuel 12:1-3                                                     Common English Bible Translation

So the Lord sent Nathan to David. When Nathan arrived he said, “There were two men in the same city, one rich, one poor. The rich man had a lot of sheep and cattle, but the poor man had nothing – just one small ewe lamb that he had bought. He raised that lamb, and it grew up with him and his children. It would eat from his food and drink from his cup – even sleep in his arms! It was like a daughter to him. (Question: How do you care for the thing that is most important to you?)

2 Samuel 12:4-6

“Now a traveler came to visit the rich man, but he wasn’t willing to take anything from his own flock or herd to prepare for the guest who had arrived. Instead, he took the poor man’s ewe lamb and prepared it for the visitor.” David got very angry at the man, and he said to Nathan, “As surely as the Lord lives, the one who did this is demonic! He must restore the ewe lamb seven times over because he did this and because he had no compassion.” (Question: How has loss in your life cultivate empathy or not in yourself?)

2 Samuel 12:7-10

“You are that man!” Nathan told David. “This is what the Lord God of Israel says: I anointed you kind over Israel and delivered you from Saul’s power. I gave your master’s house to you, and gave his wives into your embrace. I gave you the house of Israel and Judah. If that was too little, I would have given even more. Why have you despised the Lord’s word by doing what is evil in his eyes? You have struck down Uriah the Hittite with the sword and taken his wife as your own. You used the Ammonites to kill him. Because of that, because you despised me and took the wife of Uriah the Hittite as your own, the sword will never leave your own house. (Question: Have your wants and desires ever hurt others?)

2 Samuel 12:11-14

“This is what the Lord says: I am making trouble come against you from inside your own family. Before your very eyes I will take your wives away and give them to your friend, and he will have sex with your wives in broad daylight. You did what you did secretly, but I will do what I am doing before all Israel in the light of day.” I’ve sinned against the Lord!” David said to Nathan. “The Lord has removed your sin,” Nathan replied to David. “You won’t die. However, because you have utterly disrespected the Lord by doing this, the son born to you will definitely die.” (Question: How have you handled the consequences that you’ve faced in life?)

2 Samuel 12:18a, 19b-24a

On the seventh day, the child died. “Is the child dead?” David asked his servants. “Yes,” they said, “he is dead.” Then David rose from the ground, bathed, anointed himself, and changed his clothes. He entered the Lord’s house and bowed down. Then he entered his own house. He requested food, which was brought to him, and he ate. “Why are you acting this day?” his servants asked. “When the child was alive, you fasted and cried and kept watch, but now that the child is dead, you get up and eat food!” David replied, “While the child was alive I fasted and wept because I thought, Who knows? The Lord may have mercy on me and let the child live. But he is dead now. Why should I fast? Can I bring him back again? No. I am going where he is, but he won’t come back to me.” Then David comforted his wife Bathsheba. (Question: How do you move forward after screwing up?)

Prayers of the People and the Lord’s Prayer

Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name.

Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, 

on earth as it is in heaven. 

Give us this day our daily bread,

And forgive us our sins, as we forgive those who sin against us;

And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil

For thine is the kingdom and the power 

and the glory, forever.  Amen

Blessing

Song List (to listen to from wherever you get your music)

Softly and Tenderly Jesus is Calling

There’s a Wideness in God’s Mercy

As the Deer

The Show Must Go On - Queen

Life to Fix – The Record Company

Never Give Up – for King & Country

Quote by author Anne Lamott

“Sometimes I think God loves the ones who most desperately ache and are most desperately lost – his or her wildest, most messed-up children – the way you’d ache and love a screwed-up rebel daughter in juvenile hall.

Quote by Richard Branson

My attitude has always been, if you fall flat on your face, at least you’re moving forward. All you have to do is get back up and try again.