Sermon Tone Analysis

Prelude

Welcome

Call to Worship           

LEADER: I arise today, through a mighty strength; \\ \\ PEOPLE: God's power to guide me, God's might to uphold me, \\ \\ LEADER: God's wisdom to teach me, God's eyes to watch over me, \\ \\ PEOPLE: God's ear to hear me, God's word to give me speech, \\ \\ LEADER: God's hand to guard me, God's way to lie before me, \\ \\ PEOPLE: God's shield to shelter me, God's host to secure me.

\\ \\ ALL: Amen.

-Adapted from a prayer by Saint Patrick

~*Hymn of Praise                       # 200               The Church’s One Foundation

Invocation  (the Lord’s Prayer) Move past our lack of faith and be seen here, O Christ: seen beyond us, seen between us, and within us.

Move past the boundaries of our human vision and be present in Spirit and in

truth as we pray.

*/Litany  - four parts/*

Our  Offering to God          Christ invites us to share with others through this offering.

Doxology

~*Offertory Prayer  O God, take all that we have and use it to signal our love and your love for the world.

Amen.

~*Hymn of Prayer                      # 372               Have Thine Own Way, Lord

Pastoral Prayer  O God, On this Sunday when we celebrate communion we confess that there are times when we envy those who knew the Christ as he walked this earth.

We would like to meet that Jesus, face to face.

We long to find a God who can directly answer our hard questions, and whose face lights up with kindness as we sit near.

Come, Holy Spirit, breathe grace upon us, that we may live in freedom.

There are times, O God, when we find it difficult to believe that you are in the world at all, forces that destroy and wound seem so powerful

and hopefulness and creativity so limited.

Come, Holy Spirit, breathe grace upon us, that we may live in freedom-

even if that freedom is not what we expected.

~*Words of Assurance    

Hear the word in Jesus Christ: "Because I live, you also will live."

This living Christ offers us all forgiveness and new life.

~*Prayer of Thanksgiving      

We thank you, loving God, that in every generation, we can find you near to us.

We thank you that you escape our capture and invite us to expand the boundaries of our faith.

We thank you that you seek us out and hold us in mercy.

Thank you for all that you are, O God: loving parent, Jesus, the Christ, and Holy Spirit.

Jesus Christ, lover of all who live, we know many places where love seems absent or scarce.

We see the lack of care in struggles for survival.

~/~/We see the lack of care when starvation persists in a world of wealth.

In this moment, we think of individuals and their situations of pain:

Silent prayer and reflection

Be present with us all, Jesus Christ.

Open us to your justice and mercy.

Show to us your life, that we may be healed and restored.

We think of those who live in loneliness because they seem different, or unable.

We remember those who are lost in depression or drowned in repeated trauma.

In this moment, we hold before you all who feel distanced from you for any reason.

Silent prayer and reflection

Be present with us all, Holy Spirit.

Open us to your justice and mercy.

Show to us your life, that we may be healed and restored.

Amen.

~*Hymn of Praise                       # 339               More About Jesus

Scripture Reading                     /Galatians 6:7-18/  NLT

7 Don’t be misled.

Remember that you can’t ignore God and get away with it.

You will always reap what you sow! 8Those who live only to satisfy their own sinful desires will harvest the consequences of decay and death.

But those who live to please the Spirit will harvest everlasting life from the Spirit.

9 So don’t get tired of doing what is good.

Don’t get discouraged and give up, for we will reap a harvest of blessing at the appropriate time.

10Whenever we have the opportunity, we should do good to everyone, especially to our Christian brothers and sisters.

11  Notice what large letters I use as I write these closing words in my own handwriting.

12Those who are trying to force you to be circumcised are doing it for just one reason.

They don’t want to be persecuted for teaching that the cross of Christ alone can save.

13  And even those who advocate circumcision don’t really keep the whole law.

They only want you to be circumcised so they can brag about it and claim you as their disciples.

14  As for me, God forbid that I should boast about anything except the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Because of that cross, my interest in this world died long ago, and the world’s interest in me is also long dead.

15  It doesn’t make any difference now whether we have been circumcised or not.

What counts is whether we really have been changed into new and different people.

16May God’s mercy and peace be upon all those who live by this principle.

They are the new people of God.

17  From now on, don’t let anyone trouble me with these things.

For I bear on my body the scars that show I belong to Jesus.

18  My dear brothers and sisters, may the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all.

Amen.

Message                                   On Your Mark

Galatians tells us that we wear in our bodies the scars or mark that shows we belong to Jesus Christ – today we remind ourselves of the mark of Jesus Christ by wearing a cross.

~/~/~/ When one is racing there are blocks of many different forms where one prepares to start the race by getting “on your mark”, today by wearing a cross we remind ourselves to get prepared right up to waiting on the mark for what God has ahead for each of us individually and The Baptist Church in Warren as a body.

~/~/~/~/

Paul is ringing a warning bell...Freedom from the law means each believer takes on responsibility for his or her actions.

The gift of Jesus Christ is free, but not cheap - and individual actions continue to have significant repercussions.

Galatians (the people of Galatia) inclined towards libertine behavior are warned with the proverbial "God is not mocked."~/~/

Paul’s sowing and reaping imagery defines the active role believers take in shaping their own destinies and even those around them.

The Spirit is available to all who seek it.

But it is also quite avoidable.

Paul states plainly where the ultimate responsibility lies for those whose harvests are stunted and decayed.

It is within everyone's own power to determine whether the outcome of their life will be blessing or judgment.

~/~/~/

 "What is that in your hand?" God asked of Moses as God called Moses to lead Israel out of Egypt (Exodus 4:2).

God asks us the same question today.

And God will ask us the same question at Judgment Day: "What is that in your hand?" \\ Jesus needs our hands working together in work and witness.

From v.9 of today’s text we are urged "do not grow weary in well-doing," - a remark that assumes you are already involved in some sort of Christ-oriented labor.

We recognize that it is discouraging to continue to do right and receive no word of thanks or see no tangible results.

But Paul challenged the Galatians, and he challenges us to keep on doing good and to trust God for the results.

In due time, we will reap a harvest of blessing.

The Bible tells that while the harvest is plentiful, the laborers are few.

Could a mandate for action be any clearer?

\\ America has a long history of voluntary service.

Trust in the ongoing strength of voluntary commitments is, in part, what enabled the churches to break free from their existence as "political establishments" in the 18th century and begin new as free and voluntary houses of worship.

During the 19th century, the Age of Voluntaryism saw societies dedicated to everything from female education to abolition to temperance to "moral reform societies" (i.e., dedicated to reforming prostitutes).

"Voluntaryism" created universities and colleges, hospitals, orphanages and seminaries.

\\ Perhaps, however, it is time for the church to get more intentional in our activities and our identity.

We must consciously transpose Christ's image onto our schedule of meetings, campaigns and fund-raisers.

Too often we let the principle of the Sabbath get carried away.

We separate Sunday morning from a Monday week and Friday world.