CALL TO WORSHIP
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- Opening Choruses
- Opening Prayer
WELCOME and THANKS.
OPENING REMARKS
- The theme for this week is praising God for his goodness.
- The selected passages are Psalm 45:10-17, Genesis 24:34-38, 42-49, 58-67, Romans 7:15-25a and Matthew 11:16-19, 25-30.
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- In Psalm 45, the psalmist sings of how Jesus (the Messiah-King) will be praised by the nations forever and ever.
- In Genesis, Abraham’s servant praises God for answering his prayer for the success of finding a bride (Rebekah) for Jacob.
- In Romans, Paul praises God for saving him from his wretched, sinful state.
- And in Matthew, Jesus praises the Father because he has revealed the kingdom to those who had been marginalized.
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OPENING SONGS
FIRST READING
Romans 7:15-25a
15 I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. 16 Now if I do what I do not want, I agree that the law is good. 17 But in fact it is no longer I who do it but sin that dwells within me. 18 For I know that the good does not dwell within me, that is, in my flesh. For the desire to do the good lies close at hand, but not the ability. 19 For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I do. 20 Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it but sin that dwells within me.
21 So I find it to be a law that, when I want to do what is good, evil lies close at hand. 22 For I delight in the law of God in my inmost self, 23 but I see in my members another law at war with the law of my mind, making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. 24 Wretched person that I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? 25 Thanks be to God[a] through Jesus Christ our Lord!
SERMONETTE
The Speaking of Life video, chosen to complement tonight’s theme, speaks to a part of the passage in our first reading …
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- Title: Our Great Resolution
- Presenter: Cara Garrity
- Text: Romans 7:21-25a
From the TRANSCRIPT …
We are in the middle of the year and it’s time to ask how your New Year’s resolution is going. What was your resolution?
One company tracked the top resolutions for 2022. Ranging from, exercising more, to having more time for friends and family, to spending less time on social media, and lastly reducing stress at work.
Some of us might be doing great. Some of us didn’t make any resolutions. And some of us might want me to change the subject. I get it.
If you haven’t done so well on your resolution, don’t be discouraged. In 2019, it was reported that only 8.9% of people polled succeeded in keeping their New Year’s resolution throughout the previous year. That’s a failure rate of over 91%.
Here’s an example:
A friend of mine told me about being quite convicted by a sermon when he was 13. He felt guilty about how he had been treating his younger brother, so he decided that he would show him kindness and not pick on him for an entire day. With all the strength and resolve he had in him, he set out to be a good brother. That lasted about thirty minutes. He discovered that while he knew what he should do, he didn’t have it in him to do it. His resolve was good but misplaced.
In the book of Romans, Paul shares our struggle with keeping resolutions as he wrote to Jewish leaders who were having a difficult time accepting the fact that they could not resolve their way out of sin. Paul explains his own struggle.
So I find it to be a law that, when I want to do what is good, evil lies close at hand. For I delight in the law of God in my inmost self, but I see in my members another law at war with the law of my mind, making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. W retched person that I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!
Romans 7:21-25a (NRSVUE)
Paul empathizes with us. We know what we want to do – thus the New Year’s resolutions – but we can’t follow through. Paul, himself, had to come to the end of self-effort and throw himself upon the mercy of God.
In this passage, Paul comes to the one answer that gives him peace. Thank you, Jesus. He is the only true rescuer; he alone saves us.
Right after sharing this with his readers (in Romans 8:1), Paul informs them that, in Jesus, they are no longer slaves of sin, condemnation is removed, and they have been adopted into God’s family and now live by the Spirit.
Resolutions don’t bring about change; Jesus does. We can’t change, but he can change us. We learn to stop trusting in our own efforts but trust in the accomplishments of Christ Jesus. He is our hope and our answer. He is our great resolution this year, and every year to come.
I’m Cara Garrity, Speaking of Life.
SECOND READING
Matthew 11:25-30 (NRSVUE)
25 At that time Jesus said, “I thank[a] you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and the intelligent and have revealed them to infants; 26 yes, Father, for such was your gracious will.[b] 27 All things have been handed over to me by my Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.
28 “Come to me, all you who are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”
SPECIAL MUSIC
SERMON
Praising God For The Rest He Gives
Matthew 11:25-30 (NRSVUE)
25 At that time Jesus said, “I thank[a] you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and the intelligent and have revealed them to infants; 26 yes, Father, for such was your gracious will[b].
27 All things have been handed over to me by my Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.
28 “Come to me, all you who are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”
WHAT DOES THE PASSAGE MEAN?
Matthew 11:25-30 (NRSVUE)
25 At that time Jesus said, “I thank[a] you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and the intelligent and have revealed them to infants;
26 yes, Father, for such was Your gracious will.[b]
27 All things have been handed over to me by my Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.
28 “Come to me, all you who are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.
29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.
30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”
WHAT IS THE MAIN TAKEAWAY FOR YOU?
Two passages that I think of … in relation to what we’ve looked at …
Matthew 12:1 (the very next verse)
At that time Jesus went through the grain fields on the Sabbath; his disciples were hungry, and they began to pluck heads of grain and to eat.
Hebrews 4:1-11 Therefore, while the promise of entering his rest is still open, let us take care that none of you should seem to have failed to reach it. 2 For indeed the good news came to us just as to them, but the message they heard did not benefit them because they were not united by faith with those who listened.[a] 3 For we who have believed are entering that rest, just as God[b] has said,
“As in my anger I swore,
‘They shall not enter my rest,’ ”
though his works were finished since the foundation of the world. 4 For somewhere it speaks about the seventh day as follows, “And God rested on the seventh day from all his works.” 5 And again in this place it says, “They shall not enter my rest.” 6 Since therefore it remains open for some to enter it and those who formerly received the good news failed to enter because of disobedience, 7 again he sets a certain day — “today” — saying through David much later, in the words already quoted,
“Today, if you hear his voice,
do not harden your hearts.”
8 For if Joshua had given them rest, God[c] would not speak later about another day. 9 So then, a Sabbath rest still remains for the people of God, 10 for those who enter God’s[d] rest also rest from their labors as God did from his. 11 Let us therefore make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one may fall through such disobedience as theirs.
CONCLUSION
- Have you received the rest that you need?
- If you have Jesus Christ in your life, then you have.
- Make the most of it.
CLOSING SONG
CLOSING PRAYER
BENEDICTION