Sunday, October 24, 2021 - What does Jesus change? Our Relationships

Theme: What does Jesus change? Our Relationships

Hymn         Praise Ye the Lord.     (In Person Only)

Welcome

Prayer for God’s Presence

Luke 13:1-5                                Common English Bible Translation

Some who were present on that occasion told Jesus about the Galileans whom Pilate had killed while they were offering sacrifices. He replied, “Do you think the suffering of these Galileans proves that they were more sinful than all the other Galileans? No, I tell you, but unless you change your hearts and lives, you will die just as they did. What about those eighteen people who were killed with the tower of Siloam fell on them? Do you think that they were more guilty of wrongdoing than everyone else who lives in Jerusalem? No, I tell you, but unless you change your hearts and lives, you will die just as they did.” (Question: How do you handle feeling guilty?) 

Luke 13:6-9

Jesus told this parable: “A man owned a fig tree planted in his vineyard. He came looking for fruit on it and found none. He said to his gardener, ‘Look, I’ve come looking for fruit on this fig tree for the past three years, and I’ve never found any. Cut it down! Why should it continue depleting the soil’s nutrients?’ The gardener responded, ‘Lord, give it one more year, and I will dig around it and give it fertilizer. Maybe it will produce fruit next year; if not, then you can cut it down.’” (Question: What do you hope that your actions in life will produce?)

Special Music.      (In Person Only)

Luke 13:10-14

Jesus was teaching in one of the synagogues on the Sabbath. A woman was there who had been disabled by a spirit for eighteen years. She was bent over and couldn’t stand up straight. When he saw her, Jesus called her to him and said, “Woman, you are set free from your sickness.” He placed his hands on her and she straightened up at once and praised God. The synagogue leader, incensed that Jesus had healed on the Sabbath, responded, “There are six days during which work is permitted. Come and be healed on those days, not on the Sabbath day.” (Question: What are the things that are hard to let go of in life?)

Luke 13:15-17

The Lord replied, “Hypocrites! Don’t each of you on the Sabbath untie your ox or donkey from its stall and lead it out to get a drink? Then isn’t it necessary that this woman, a daughter of Abraham, bound by Satan for eighteen long years, be set free from her bondage on the Sabbath day?” When he said these things, all his opponents were put to shame, but all those in the crowd rejoiced at all the extraordinary things he was doing. (Question: How do you determine the criteria for letting go of things or not?)

Hymn      Lord of All Hopefulness     (In Person Only)

Luke 13:18-21

Jesus asked, “What is God’s kingdom like? To what can I compare it? It’s like a mustard seed that someone took and planted in a garden. It grew and developed into a tree and the birds in the sky nested in its branches.” Again he said, “To what can I compare God’s kingdom? It’s like yeast, which a woman took and hid in a bushel of wheat flour until the yeast had worked its way through the whole. (Question: What is the significance for understanding how God’s love and our relationships are connected?)

Reflection Together (In Person Only)

Offering Ourselves to God

      During this time let us reflect upon an excerpt from the Brief Statement of Faith

In a broken and fearful world the Spirit gives us courage to pray without ceasing, to witness among all peoples to Christ as Lord and Savior, to unmask idolatries in Church and culture, to hear the voices of peoples long silenced, and to work with others for justice, freedom, and peace.

Hymn     There Is a Balm in Gilead     (In Person Only)

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

Benediction

Closing Hymn  I’m Gonna Live So God Can Use Me  (In Person Only)

Congregational Meeting

Hymn List

633 Praise Ye the Lord

683 Lord of All Hopefulness

700 I’m Gonna Live So God Can Use Me

792 There Is a Balm in Gilead

Sermon Series September 26 – October 31st

Theme: What does Jesus change?

October 31st – Our Scorecard