Call to Worship

 

We long for a living faith
and so we come to worship.
Hoping that our time together, and our time with God
will help to unclench our fists,
will slowly soften our hearts,
will quiet our voices and open our ears.
Revive our faith, O God
that we might serve you with glad and joyful hearts. Amen

 

Song – Psalm 145 by Dustin Kensrue

 

Scripture Reading – James 1: 22-25(NIV)

 

22 Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.23 Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like someone who looks at his face in a mirror 24 and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. 25 But whoever looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues in it—not forgetting what they have heard, but doing it—they will be blessed in what they do.

 

Prayer of Thanksgiving Adapted from Bruce and Carolyn Gillete

 

We know that we cannot earn your love, but we can respond to your love.
You call us to live holy lives out of gratitude for all that you have done for us.

 

We thank you for people who find joy in the midst of trials and difficulties:
for the hospital patient who gives hope and inspiration to the medical professionals,
for the homeless person who teaches the social worker the meaning of faith,
for the family that prays together in the face of difficult finances.

 

We thank you for those who endure temptation:
for the young person who says “no” to a friend who wants to shoplift,
for the office worker who refuses to join in negative conversation,
for the company executive who puts justice before profits.

 

We thank you for those who are ever-generous in giving to others:
for the child who befriends the lonely,
for the young adult with limited income financially assisting a just cause,
for the elderly adult, on a fixed income, that supports a child in need or a local nonprofit.

 

We thank you for those who are quick to listen,
slow to speak, slow to anger:
for couples who listen to each other in love,
for people who count to ten before speaking their minds
and then speak gently,
for people who remain calm and loving when others’ tempers flare.

 

We thank you for people who live out their faith by caring for orphans, widows and others in need:
for foster parents and adoptive parents,
for those who seek to work for peace and justice
for those who share a cup of coffee with a lonely neighbor,
for those who tend to all in nursing homes.

 

We thank you for people who are doers of the word and not hearers only.
O God, may we be counted among them.

 

Help us to hear your word and to find joy in doing what you call us to do.
May we live our lives in thankful obedience. Amen.

 

Scripture Reading – Matthew 7:21-27 (NIV)

 

 

Song – My Feet Are On The Rock by I Am They

Scripture Reading – James 2:14-26 (NIV)

 

14 What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save them? 15 Suppose a brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food. 16 If one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it?17 In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.
18 But someone will say, “You have faith; I have deeds.”
Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by my deeds.19 You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that—and shudder.
20 You foolish person, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is useless?21 Was not our father Abraham considered righteous for what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? 22 You see that his faith and his actions were working together, and his faith was made complete by what he did. 23 And the scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness,” and he was called God’s friend. 24 You see that a person is considered righteous by what they do and not by faith alone.
25 In the same way, was not even Rahab the prostitute considered righteous for what she did when she gave lodging to the spies and sent them off in a different direction? 26 As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead.

 

Song – Teach Us Your Ways (Originally by Porter’s Gate but covered by Whitworth Campus Ministries)

 

Video Sermon

 

Questions for Reflection

 

Lynn mentioned that our New Testament letters are often written to particular audiences under particular circumstances. Each small church had to determine what it meant to be a follower of Jesus in their context, so occasionally a letter or missionary would come to instruct or encourage. These letters even corrected false teachings. What encouragement or correction might the church in America in 2020 need right now? Write a sentence or two of either encouragement or correction.

 

Self-sacrificial love (pouring oneself out for others) is one of the signs of faithful living. What behavior or action can you adopt in order to be more self-sacrificial? What can you give away, do in secret, or have less of in order that someone else might flourish?

 

Lynn stated, that as apples of God’s eye, “we don’t need to fight for our share at the table.” How can we love, advocate for, fight for, and live in the truth that each and every person we encounter is also the apple of God’s eye?

 

Benediction