Service Sunday November 10, 2024

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All are Welcome!

The Gathering

Welcome and Announcements.
Focusing Moment.

Acknowledgement of Land

We begin this time of worship by acknowledging that we are meeting on the land of the Anishnaabeg people. This land has been inhabited by Indigenous peoples from the beginning. We thank all the generations of Indigenous people who have taken care of this land and been its stewards for thousands of years. We give thanks for the countless ways they have assisted the settler peoples who came to inhabit the land. We also recognize the contributions Métis, Inuit, and other Indigenous peoples have made in shaping and strengthening this region, the provinces, and Canada as a whole. Meegwetch. All my relations.

Call to Worship:

One: God calls us forth this morning to this place of worship.

ALL: Like Lazarus, we are called out of the tombs we build for ourselves and into the light and hope of God’s love.

One: Let us open our hearts, our minds, and our deepest being to God.

ALL: Let us worship God who surrounds us, uplifts us, and upholds us with boundless grace and love forever.

Written by George Allan, Chatham, Ont.

Gathering, Pentecost 2024, p.48. Used with permission.

Hymn: “O Love, How Deep” VU #348

1 O love, how deep, how broad, how high!

It fills the heart with ecstasy,

that God, in Jesus Christ, should take

our mortal form for mortals' sake.

2 God sent no angel to our race

of higher or of lower place,

but wore the robe of human frame,

and freely to this lost world came.

3 For us he was baptized, and bore

a holy fast, and hungered sore;

for us temptations sharply knew;

for us the tempter overthrew.

4 For us he prayed, for us he taught,

for us great daily works were wrought,

by words and signs, and actions, thus

still seeking not himself, but us.

5 For us to wicked foes betrayed,

scourged, mocked, in purple robe arrayed,

he bore the shameful cross and death;

for us at length gave up his breath.

6 For us he rose from death again,

for us he went on high to reign,

for us he sent his Spirit here

to guide, to strengthen and to cheer.

7 To God whose boundless love has won

salvation for us through the Son,

to God all praise and glory be

both now and through eternity.

A NEW CREED: Spoken in Unison

We are not alone; we live in God’s world.

We believe in God: who has created and is creating,

who has come in Jesus, the Word made flesh,

to reconcile and make new, who works in us and others by the Spirit.

We trust in God.

We are called to be the church: to celebrate God’s presence,

to live with respect in Creation, to love and serve others,

to seek justice and resist evil, to proclaim Jesus crucified and risen,

our judge and our hope. In life, in death, in life beyond death, God is with us. We are not alone. Thanks be to God.

MINISTRY OF MUSIC:

LEARNING TOGETHER:

Hymn: “Teach Me, God, to Wonder” VU #299

1 Teach me, God, to wonder, teach me, God, to see;

let your world of beauty capture me.

Refrain Praise to you be given, love for you be lived,

life be celebrated, joy you give.

2 Let me, God, be open, let me loving be;

let your world of people speak to me. Refrain

3 Let me, God, be ready, let me be awake,

in your world of loving my place take. Refrain

4 Teach me, God, to know you, hear you when you speak,

see you in my neighbour when we meet. Refrain

THE WORD

Scripture: 2 Samuel 24:18-25 & Mark 12:28-34

Leader: Hear and listen to what the Spirit is saying to the church.

ALL: Thanks be to God.

MESSAGE

“How Much Should Your Faith Cost You?”

Listen to an audio recording of the message below or read it at the bottom of this page.

**OUR RESPONSE PRAYERS OF THE PEOPLE and THE LORD’S PRAYER: (sung VU #960**)

HYMN: “Draw the Circle Wide” MV #145

Refrain

Draw the circle wide. Draw it wider still.

Let this be our song, no one stands alone,

standing side by side, draw the circle wide.

1. God the still-point of the circle,

‘round whom all creation turns;

nothing lost, but held forever,

in God’s gracious arms. Refrain

2. Let our hearts touch far horizons,

so encompass great and small;

let our loving know no borders,

faithful to God’s call. Refrain

3. Let the dreams we dream be larger,

than we’ve ever dreamed before;

let the dream of Christ be in us,

open every door. Refrain

AFFIRMING MOMENT

PRESENTATION OF OUR OFFERINGS

OFFERTORY PRAYER:

We are grateful for a love that is ours, when we cannot always even love ourselves. We are grateful for a strength that holds us up, when we stumble in our vulnerability. We are grateful because God is our God, a God who is with us always. Let us offer our gifts to God in gratitude for what is beyond words. Let us join together in our morning offering.

Amen.

Written by Frances Flook, Emo/Devlin P.C., Emo, Ont.

Gathering, Pentecost 2 2021, page 46. Used with permission.

SUNG BLESSING: (MV #173 vs 5)

Reach out in friendship,

stay with faith in touch with those around you.

Put peace into each other’s hands;

the Peace that sought and found you. ©

Sending Forth:

One: Go from this time knowing that you are God’s beloved, called to live a life of service, with joy and thanksgiving. Go from this time knowing that the wisdom and faith of the ancestors goes with you. Go from this time knowing that God is with you to the end of the journey, blessing you every moment of every day!

ALL: Amen!

Written by Bob Root, Peterborough, Ont.

Gathering, Pentecost 2, 2021, p.50. Used with permission.

A Time of Fellowship

Sermon 3 November 2024

“How Much Should Your Faith Cost You?”

2 Samuel 24:18-25 & Mark 12:28-34

Gracious God, be with us today in this place, in the Scriptures and in our words.

May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts praise your Holy name. Amen.

You and I may not expect to enjoy this church at no cost, or to get for nothing faith’s assurance and comfort, but in this age of consumerism, every shrewd shopper strives for the “right” price.

So how much should our faith cost us?

There’s an old story in the Second Book of Samuel that can give us some guidance.

At the time, it was believed that God had inflicted a plague on the people because of the misconduct of David, their king.

David’s religious advisor had explained that the only way to get rid of the plague was for him to perform a special act of penitence, like making a sacrifice to God.

To accommodate such a sacrifice, a farmer offered to the king his threshing-floor, the oxen needed for the ritual, and all his wooden tools for the fuel.

King David was touched by the farmer’s generosity, but said to him, “I’ll buy these things from you...I will not offer burnt offerings to my God that have cost me nothing.”

Then David paid the farmer 50 shekels of silver and proceeded with the ritual.

In the end, as the story goes, God averted the plague.

“I will not offer burnt offerings to my God which have cost me nothing.”

So how much should our faith cost us?

We’ll consider the cost in terms of money, in terms of prayer & worship, and in terms of service.

First: how much should our faith cost us in money?

The Bible is pretty up front about money.

We know exactly what David paid the farmer.

Jesus was never shy when talking about money.

In fact, many of his parables pivoted on financial concepts.

However, there’s an important distinction to be made.

In the Bible, money is seen as an instrument.

Money is never portrayed as an idol.

It’s only when money is made into an idol that it has to be discussed with delicacy.

Furthermore, there’s no way to avoid the subject of money.

If our church is going to proclaim the “Good News” of the Gospel in this community and beyond, there’ll be money to pay.

And if our church is going to nurture through its activities and programs those of all ages who come seeking and searching, then there’ll be money to pay.

And those of us who acknowledge the relevance of the church for ourselves and for our families and for our friends--we are the ones expected to do the paying.

The financial costs of our faith are an essential part of our being Christian.

Now: let’s turn our thoughts to the second point.

How much should our faith cost us in terms of prayer and worship?

Intangible disciplines like these offer us support and encourage our growth.

Nowadays, Sunday mornings provide many alternative options to worship.

Life’s pace is so fast and varied.

So many causes compete for a share of our time and energy: economic needs, professional needs, personal interests, community needs, and family needs all demand our attention.

My family needs are demanding and now with three children, they need much of my attention, even though 2 of them are adults now!

Often when people neglect to attend church, it’s a pressured response rather than a disinterested response.

And yet, how little do we realize that to deny ourselves time to worship is to deny ourselves spiritual sustenance.

The way Jesus lived his life gives us some standards.

Luke reported that whenever Jesus visited Nazareth, “He went to the synagogue on the Sabbath day, as was his custom.” (4:16)

On other occasions, there are many accounts that tell of Jesus withdrawing for a quiet time of prayer and meditation.

I have heard of a story of a young mother in the hall outside of a city church.

She explained to the minister how she had sought the solitude of the sanctuary as she waited for her child.

Prayer and worship can be costly in terms of busy schedules.

Indeed, sometimes we have to re-arrange priorities in order to include Sunday worship.

The resources of faith that help us achieve a meaningful and fulfilled life are available to us only as we’re willing to pay the price for them.

Finally: how much should our faith cost us in terms of service?

What we’re really talking about here is ministry, the corporate ministry of our church, and the personal ministry of each one of us.

Of course, a good chunk of our corporate ministry is exercised through our gifts of money.

As a congregation, we’re continually working for justice in human life.

Through contributions to the M & S Fund and other local projects, we extend our arms so that we can have a share in the efforts made to bring healing and hope to people throughout Canada and the world.

We recently reached out together for the Food Bank through our Thanksgiving Food Drive.

We supported the Brooksong Haliburton Highlands Challenge.

Also, very soon we will be raising funds for Places for People and also helping raise awareness of those at risk of homelessness.

But there’s another aspect to ministry that has to do with the personal space each one of us occupies.

William Temple, a great Archbishop of Canterbury, once said,

“Nine-tenths of the work of the church in the world is done by Christian people fulfilling responsibilities and performing tasks which, in themselves, are not part of the official system of the church at all.”

We all make choices about service.

This is a story about Martha and her father.

A young woman, Martha, phoned her father from Victoria, where she was working in room service at The Empress Hotel.

She spoke of how she had been summoned to a particular hotel room where she found an American woman from Los Angeles, distraught and depressed.

Tearfully, the woman summarized the story of a sickly only child who had died, and whose illness had brought a strain into the marital relationship.

There she was, alone in a hotel room, faced with the prospect of celebrating a wedding anniversary.

What did Martha do?

Well, the first thing she did was to listen.

She listened for 45 minutes, as this woman poured out her heart.

Then Martha put a plan into action.

Downstairs in the hotel’s receiving rooms, she gathered together a bouquet of cut flowers, and along with a signed card, had them delivered to the woman’s room.

Then she went to the desk, interceded on her behalf, and secured a bigger room with a better view.

As her father commended Martha on the way she had responded, she put a new perspective on the story.

“Dad,” she said, “I felt that I was on a mission.

I know that God sent me to that woman in that room.”

First and foremost, we must always remember that ministry is uniquely personal.

You and I perceive a need, and we choose how we respond.

“I will not offer to the Lord my God burnt offerings that have cost me nothing.”

This morning, I’m suggesting that our Christian faith is expensive--costly in terms of money, prayer & worship, and service to others.

That’s just the way it is and we wouldn’t have it any other way!

Thanks be to God. Amen.