Discipline

June 18, 2023
Pastor Jacob Lee
Worship

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Service of Worship

Meditation on “Vernon”
Arr. Steven Scott
© 2004 Lorenz Publishing Company
Used with Permission. ONE LICENSE # A-401420

Welcome and Call to Worship

Leader: Welcome, you who are called as disciples of Christ! Is anything too wonderful for our God?
 People: Nothing is too wonderful for God who saves us and calls us!
Leader: We remember the goodness of God who promised Abraham a multitude of descendants and then showed up at Abraham’s door to announce that the promise would be fulfilled.
 People: Nothing is too wonderful for God who promises and fulfills promises!
Leader: We remember the compassion of Jesus who noticed the distress of his neighbors and acted to bring them healing and wholeness.
 People: Nothing is too wonderful for God who heals and restores the distressed!
Leader: We remember the invitation the Spirit extends to us to join in God’s work of compassionate community building.
 People: Nothing is too wonderful for God who empowers us to transform strangers into community through active love.
Leader: As we worship, may we receive the promise, the compassion, and the invitation to be disciples of Christ who join in God’s work of making disciples for the transformation of our households, our community, and our world. 
People: Because nothing is too wonderful for our God! Amen.

(Written by Dr. Lisa Hancock, Discipleship Ministries)

Opening Hymn — #139 “Praise to the Lord, the Almighty” (v. 1, 2, 3, 5)

1. Praise to the Lord, the Almighty, the King of creation!
O my soul, praise him, for he is thy health and salvation!
All ye who hear,
now to his temple draw near;
join me in glad adoration!

2. Praise to the Lord, who o’er all things so wondrously reigning
bears thee on eagle’s wings, e’er in his keeping maintaining.
God’s care enfolds
all, whose true good he upholds.
Hast thou not known his sustaining?

3. Praise to the Lord, who doth prosper thy work and defend thee;
surely his goodness and mercy here daily attend thee.
Ponder anew
what the Almighty can do,
who with his love doth befriend thee.

5. Praise to the Lord! O let all that is in me adore him!
All that hath life and breath, come now with praises before him!
Let the amen
sound from his people again;
gladly forever adore him.

Praise To The Lord The Almighty
Catherine Winkworth | Joachim Neander | Paul Schilling | Rupert Eric Davies
Public Domain

Pastor’s Time With the Children – Rev. Jacob Lee

Joys and Concerns, Pastoral Prayer, 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 trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, the power, and glory forever. Amen.

For those who are called and able, gifts and tithes can still be made through online giving, by mailing them in, and by dropping them off to the office through the secure mail slot to the left of the double door entry to the church hallway.

Offertory – Marshall

Lift Every Voice and Sing
James Weldon Johnson | J. Rosamond Johnson
Public Domain

Doxology

Praise God, from whom all blessings flow;
praise him, all creatures here below;
praise him above, ye heavenly host;
praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Amen.

Praise God From Whom All Blessings Flow (Old 100th)
Louis Bourgeois | Thomas Ken
Public Domain

Offertory Prayer

Mighty God, with your powerful arms, hold up your church! We are struggling through tough times in our churches; we need to be renewed again and filled with your power. Reach inside us and open hearts wide that we might give the full measure of our devotion. As you revived the saints who came before us, revive us to go out and welcome the forgotten, heal the sick, speak the words of comfort and hope to the discouraged. In the holy name of Christ, we pray. Amen.

(Matt 9:35-10:8 (9-23))

Scripture Readings — Hebrews 12:7-13 (NRSV)

7 Endure trials for the sake of discipline. God is treating you as children; for what child is there whom a parent does not discipline? 8 If you do not have that discipline in which all children share, then you are illegitimate and not his children. 9 Moreover, we had human parents to discipline us, and we respected them. Should we not be even more willing to be subject to the Father of spirits and live? 10 For they disciplined us for a short time as seemed best to them, but he disciplines us for our good, in order that we may share his holiness. 11 Now, discipline always seems painful rather than pleasant at the time, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.

12 Therefore lift your drooping hands and strengthen your weak knees, 13 and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be put out of joint, but rather be healed.

Response
The Word of the Lord:
Thanks be to God.

Choral Anthem — Chancel Choir

Open the Eyes of My Heart
Paul Baloche, Arr. Jim Lucas
© 2005 Fred Bock Music Company

This arrangement is not covered by copyright licensing and cannot be streamed.

Sermon — Rev. Jacob S. Lee
“Discipline”

We pray today for dads:
+ New dads, granddads, stepdads, adoptive dads & solo dads.
+ Baldy ones, beardy ones, skinny ones & cuddly ones.
+ Dads who tell bad jokes & dads who dance to YMCA.
+ Dads who know how to fix things, & dads who just pretend.

Father to the fatherless, we pray for those for whom this day is sadder than it is happy:
+ Those who feel they have failed
+ Those who are grieving children they never had
+ Those missing their dads, or their children, even more than usual.

Father God, in a world where some dads are distant, absent or even abusive we lean into your ever-present love. We know that you are especially faithful to those orphaned, abandoned and hurt; that “even if my father abandons me, the Lord will hold me close” Ps 27:10

Father of Comfort, heal our wounds. Restore the dignity, integrity and centrality of fatherhood in our nation.
And finally Lord, for all those poor souls everywhere who forgot that today is #FathersDay, we ask you to bless them, in your abundant grace and manifold mercy, with the discovery of chocolate and half-decent cards in surprisingly well-stocked convenience stores.

Amen.

– Unknown

Closing Hymn — #714 “I Know Whom I Have Believed” (v. 1-3)

1. I know not why God’s wondrous grace
to me he hath made known,
nor why, unworthy, Christ in love
redeemed me for his own.

Refrain
But I know whom I have believed,
and am persuaded that he is able
to keep that which I’ve committed
unto him against that day.

2. I know not how this saving faith
to me he did impart,
nor how believing in his word
wrought peace within my heart.

Refrain

3. I know not how the Spirit moves,
convincing us of sin,
revealing Jesus through the word,
creating faith in him.

Refrain

I Know Whom I Have Believed
Daniel Webster Whittle | James McGranahan
Public Domain

Benediction

Postlude – Hani