1-24-2021 -- A CALLING IN THE OLD TESTAMENT AND ONE IN THE NEW -- AND TWO RESPONSES

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Jesus calls four disciples -- what it means to be called

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Transcript
<< PRE-SERVICE LOOP goes up 5 minutes or so 10 a.m., with — WELCOME/DATE slide and any pre-service announcement looping until 10 a.m. >>

WELCOME AND DATE

<< SERVICE BEGINS >>

START LIVESTREAMING AND RECORDING IN PROCLAIM AND OBS/GO ON AIR

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WELCOME AND DATE

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GREETING

pastor gives a few words of greeting
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ANNOUNCEMENTS — listed by date

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ANNOUNCEMENT — Make a Difference 2 p.m. Tuesday, February 2, at Lorenzo FUMC

Make A Difference is now meeting on the first and third Tuesdays of each month at Lorenzo FUMC. Call Donna Campbell for details.
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ANNOUNCEMENT — Let pastor know of changes

illnesses, deaths, prayer requests, or announcements that need to go on the prayer list, in the bulletin, or that the pastor needs to know about.
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CENTERING OUR HEARTS ON WORSHIP

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FIRST HYMN — “Rock of Ages” verses 1, 2 and 3

Today’s psalm talks about the rock of our salvation, and that’s what our first hymn is about — the Rock of Ages,and the water and blood that flowed from Jesus; side when He was crucified being the cure for our sin. We’ll sing three verses:
Verse
Rock of Ages cleft for me
Let me hide myself in thee
Let the water and the blood
From thy wounded side which flowed
Be of sin the double cure
Save from wrath and make me pure
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Verse
Could my tears forever flow
Could my zeal no langour know
These for sin could not atone
Thou must save and thou alone
Nothing in my hand I bring
Simply to the cross I cling
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Verse
While I draw this fleeting breath
When mine eyes shall close in death
When I fly to worlds unknown
And behold thee on thy throne
Rock of Ages cleft for me
Let me hide myself in thee
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GATHERING PRAYER

You call us, Wanderer of seashores and sidewalks — inviting us to sail out of our smug harbors into the uncharted waters of faith; to wander off from our predictable paths to follow You into the unpredictable footsteps of the kingdom; to leave the comfort of our homes and accompany You into the uncomfortable neighborhoods we usually avoid.
As we wait, in our simple, sometimes crazy, constantly uncertain lives, speak to us, Spirit of Grace: of that hope which is our anchor; of that peace which is our rock; of that grace which is our refuge.
~ from a worship order prepared by Rev. Bob Gibson for the London Conference of the United Church of Canada.
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CALL TO WORSHIP (based on Psalm 62 and Mark 1:14-20 from a liturgy by Bruce Prewer)

(Note: the words in bold and italics are Scriptures)
PASTOR: It is time to become focused, not on our wants or complaints but on God:
PEOPLE: In the silent places of my soul, I turn to God, for God alone is our rock and salvation.
PASTOR:Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the good news of God,saying the time has come, the realm of God is at hand.
PEOPLE: The realm of God is not very far from any one of us, for in God we live and, move and have our being.
PASTOR:Jesus said: repent and believe the good news.
PEOPLE The time has come. In the silent places of my soul, I turn to God, for God alone is our rock and salvation.
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EPISTLE LESSON — 1 Corinthians 7:29-31 (CEB)

Introduction
Paul warned that “the present form of this world is passing away” in 1 Corinthians 7:29-31. This brief passage warned the things believers took for granted—marriage, possessions, wealth, even grief and joy—all of this was changing soon in Paul’s view. The things that made meaning for people in his day would no longer have meaning.
.......We’re reading 1 Corinthians 7:29-31 from the Common English Bible:
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29 This is what I’m saying, brothers and sisters: The time has drawn short. From now on those who have wives should be like people who don’t have them. --
30 Those who are sad should be like people who aren’t crying. those who are happy should be like people who aren’t happy.--
Those who buy something should be like people who don’t have possessions. 31 Those who use the world should be like people who aren’t preoccupied with it,--
because this world in its present form is passing away.--
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<< After the Scripture, change to CENTERING OUR HEARTS IN PRAYER. Leave up for the report on members slide, which will stay up until the pastor says something like “…the wordsour Lord taught us to ray, saying...” >>

CENTERING OUR HEARTS IN PRAYER

RALLS
Evelyn Brockett came home from the hospital Monday, the day we all thought she was having an appendectomy. However, she is going back to the hospital this week and may yet have to have surgery. She is looking forward to being back with us, but just not this week. She sent a message — “Take care of each other.” We’re keeping Angela Arthur on our prayer list a little longer.
LORENZO
Denise Chumley, who has been on the Lorenzo prayer list for a while, just began another round of chemotherapy in Dallas, so keep in your prayers, as well as Emile Cook who is appparently still at the hospital. Prayers for the family of Bill Chesnut, Merle Morrison’s brother, who died last week, and we’ve added Lavonna Robertson’s son and grandson Nathan and Keith Robertson to the list.
Keep me posted as to names that need to be added or removed from the list.
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PASTORAL PRAYER

<< when the pastor says something like “let us pray together the rods our Lord taught us, saying...” change to LORD’S PRAYER slide >>

THE 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 and the power and the glory forever. Amen.
>> change to TITHES AND OFFERINGS slide and leave up for a second or two. This will be followed by an announcement slide on where to send offerings. Leave up a few seconds so people can see addresses, etc., and then change slide to EPISTLE READING and leave up during the introduction to the passage >>

TITHES AND OFFERINGS

Where to send regular offerings
<< After the Scripture, change to SECOND HYMN slide, which gives the name of the hymn and stays up for a short introduction of the hymn . After the hymn introduction, change slide to words to the second hymn, which will look like a single slide, but will include several slides, depending on the number of verses, etc. If a verse is broken up into more than one slide, the signal for the slide change is a dash (—) >>

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SECOND HYMN — "Grace Greater than Our Sin” verses 1, 2 and 4 (possibly just 2 verses)

One of my favorite hymns is “Grace Greater than our Sin,” and he speaks to God’s infinite, marvelous grace that is greater than any sin we could ever h ave. We’ll sing two verses.
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Verse
Marvelous grace of our loving Lord,
grace that exceeds our sin and our guilt.
Yonder on Calvary's mount outpoured,
There where the blood of the Lamb was spilt.
Grace, grace -- God's grace --
grace that will pardon and cleanse within.
Grace, grace -- God's grace --
Grace that is greater than all our sin.
​
Verse
Sin and despair, like the sea waves cold,
threaten the soul with infinite loss.
Grace that is greater -- yes, grace untold --
points to the refuge, the mighty Cross.
Grace, grace -- God's grace --
grace that will pardon and cleanse within.
Grace, grace -- God's grace --
Grace that is greater than all our sin.
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GOSPEL LESSON

We’re reading today’s Gospel Lesson here, but we’ll discuss it later in the sermon. Listen to Luke 5:1-11, reading from the Common English Bible:
1 One day Jesus was standing beside Lake Gennesaret when the crowd pressed in around him to hear God’s word. --
2 Jesus saw two boats sitting by the lake. The fishermen had gone ashore and were washing their nets. --
3 Jesus boarded one of the boats, the one that belonged to Simon, then asked him to row out a little distance from the shore. Jesus sat down and taught the crowds from the boat. --
4 When he finished speaking to the crowds, he said to Simon, “Row out farther, into the deep water, and drop your nets for a catch.” --
5 Simon replied, “Master, we’ve worked hard all night and caught nothing. But because you say so, I’ll drop the nets.” --
6 So they dropped the nets and their catch was so huge that their nets were splitting. --
7 They signaled for their partners in the other boat to come and help them. They filled both boats so full that they were about to sink. --
8 When Simon Peter saw the catch, he fell at Jesus’ knees and said, “Leave me, Lord, for I’m a sinner!” --
9 Peter and those with him were overcome with amazement because of the number of fish they caught. --
10 James and John, Zebedee’s sons, were Simon’s partners and they were amazed too. Jesus said to Simon, “Don’t be afraid. From now on, you will be fishing for people.” --
11 As soon as they brought the boats to the shore, they left everything and followed Jesus.--
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CENTERING OUR HEARTS WITH THE WORD

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SERMON TITLE — A CALLING IN THE OLD TESTAMENT AND ONE IN THE NEW -- AND TWO RESPONSES

< change to picture of little girl fishing and leave up during sermon introduction >>
I used to go “fishing” as a little girl. My grandmother’s land had a creek running through it, and me and Papa Norton would go down there some afternoons. I’d carry my cane fishing pole with the little red bobber on it.
I don’t remember what he carried or if he even fished. The main thing he did that I remember is baiting my hook because I was afraid of the sharp hook and hated the slimy worms.
Once my hook was baited, I’d stand on the creek’s edge and put the hook in the water and watch the red bobber float along — Until suddenly, it would go under! “I’ve got one!” I’d yell, and Papa Norton would tell me to pull her in — I always wonder how he knew it was a girl fish. But I was hardly ever able to successfully pull a fish in.
In fact, I was a lousy fisherman. It was fun — for a few minutes — but I didn’t like being quiet and still. I bet you’re surprised to hear that about me.
Anyway, we hardly ever came home with any fish. But I remember that time together and sitting quietly — at least for a minute or two — trying to catch fish.
I tell that story because it reminded me of two other fish stories, and we’re going to look at both of them today. One is in t he Old Testament and one is in the New, and the two stories don’t seem to have anything in common. But I promise that at the end, you’ll see a very strong connection — a theme that runs throughout the Bible and which we see summed up on our bulletin cover — our God is a God of grace, mercy, obedience and second chances .
And boy, is ever there was a story of second chances, we see it in the story of Jonah, of what the bulletin cover calls “the Reluctant Prophet.” Jonah is the poster child of second chances, and his story includes a massive second chance for all the people of Nineveh
We’re going to start with the Old Testament story. I’ll highlight some of the major details from chapters 1 and 2 that lead up to our Lectionary lesson from the Hebrew Scriptures today. We’ll get to the other fishing story from the Gospel of Luke and some other Jonah connections later.
<< change slide to SETTING THE SCENE and leave up until OLD TESTAMENT LESSON.

SETTING THE SCENE

Little is known about Jonah. In fact, all we know of him from before this story begins is that his father was Amittai, who tradition has was from the tribe of Benjamin, which would make him a descendant of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob but several centuries later.
God has a task for Jonah. He is to go to Nineveh, the largest city in the world for several decades and the capital of he Neo-Assyrian Empire — one of Israel’s greatest enemies. The task? To call the evil Ninevite people to repent in the face of God’s impending judgment and destruction. That’s all. A tiny task.
But Jonah doesn’t want to go — and not just because it was, in fact, a HUGE task. He didn’t want to go because he hated the Ninevites because of all the really bad things they had done to the Israelites for generations. Jonah was afraid God would forgive them and he didn’t want them to be forgiven. He says as much at the end of the book.
We don’t know that at first. All we hear in the first part of Jonah was how he tried to run away from God and the task God had called him to. Instead of obediently going to Nineveh, Jonah heads in the exact opposite direction — he boards a ship bound for Tarshish, which was more than 2,000 miles in the exact opposite direction. Jonah REALLY didn’t want to go to Nineveh.
Of course, you all know what happened to him. God sent a huge storm, so furious that the sailors were throwing things overboard to lighten the load and then decided that perhaps somebody on board wast the load. They cast lots to determine the guilty party , and the lot fell on Jonah. Still, they didn’t want to just throw him overboard, which would have meant certain death. But as the storm worsened, that’s what they did, and the book of Jonah tells us the “sea stopped its raging.”
In the meantime, however, God had provided a great fish to swallow Jonah whole. Now, that doesn’t sound like good news, but it was, because God also kept the great fish — usually called a whale — from actually chomping on and EATING Jonah. Instead, the two apparently co-existed for three days and three nights.
Now that Jonah understood his situation, he was praying fervantly to God to help him out of his distress, and God was ready to act — again — on his behalf. Jonah offered to make a thank offering to God if he was delivered, and God caused the great fish to vomit Jonah out on dry land.
All that happened in the first two chapters, which brings us to today’s reading in Jonah 3:1-10, from the Common English Bible:
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OLD TESTAMENT READING — Jonah 3:1-10

1 The Lord’s word came to Jonah a second time: 2 “Get up and go to Nineveh, that great city, and declare against it the proclamation that I am commanding you.” --
3 And Jonah got up and went to Nineveh, according to the Lord’s word. (Now Nineveh was indeed an enormous city, a three days’ walk across.) --
4 Jonah started into the city, walking one day, and he cried out, “Just forty days more and Nineveh will be overthrown!” --
5 And the people of Nineveh believed God. They proclaimed a fast and put on mourning clothes, from the greatest of them to the least significant. --
6 When word of it reached the king of Nineveh, he got up from his throne, stripped himself of his robe, covered himself with mourning clothes, and sat in ashes. --
7 Then he announced, “In Nineveh, by decree of the king and his officials: Neither human nor animal, cattle nor flock, will taste anything! No grazing and no drinking water! --
8 Let humans and animals alike put on mourning clothes, and let them call upon God forcefully! And let all persons stop their evil behavior and the violence that’s under their control!” --
9 He thought, Who knows? God may see this and turn from his wrath, so that we might not perish. --
10 God saw what they were doing—that they had ceased their evil behavior. So God stopped planning to destroy them, and he didn’t do it.—
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a few seconds until EVANGELISM AT ITS BEST slide. >>

EVANGELISM AT ITS WORST

A key word in that first verse is that God spoke to Jonah a second time. He is offering J onah a second chance and He is clearly determined to give the Ninevites a chance to repent of t heir sins.
<< change to 2 Peter slide >>
As it says in 2 Peter 3:9: “The LORD is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance. “
<< change to duplicate EVANGELISM AT ITS BEST slide.
As evil as they were, God wanted to give them a second chance to avoid judgment and destruction, and so He once again tells Jonah to go to Nineveh and warn the people of their impending doom.
And so he goes, half-hardheartedly. I tried to find pictures of Jonah preaching in Ninevah, and they all made him look like John t he Baptist — full of zeal and fire, waving his arms and crying out — REPENT! THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN IS AT HAND!”
He does walk across the city, which takes about three days since it is so big, And he did deliver the message God had given him to deliver.
But there’s no indication of urgency or pleading in the Scripture. Just nine words --“Just forty days more and Nineveh will be overthrown!” — apparently delivered by a man with no passion and certainly no desire for the people to repent or expectation that they would. He doesn’t call for repentance — just gives the warning — and he’s done.He did what God had told him to do, however reluctantly, and now he could go back to his hometown and never have to see these horrid people again.
Except, that’s not what happened.
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EVANGELISM AT ITS BEST

It didn’t matter if Jonah cared or didn’t care if the people repented. What mattered is that the people heard those simple nine words and believed them. And they acted on that belief — fasting and putting on mourning clothes to show their grief and their willingness to repent. Every single person in the largest city in the world at the time.
The largest city in the world these days is Tokyo, with more than 37.4 million people — compare that to New York City with a measly 18.8 million. Can you even imagine what it would be like if every single person in New York City believed God’s warning and repented?!!! Or to bring it closer to home, if every single person in our little town believed? How different life would be for those new believers and their families!
And in fact, Scripture tells us that they stopped what they were doing, they ended their evil behavior, and God changed His mind. He “ stopped planning to destroy them, and he didn’t do it.”
This is just one of several times in the Bible where it says God “changed His mind.” When people repented, God welcomed that repentance. He wants all people to know Him and to believe in and on Him, and He is filled with joy when that happens
Jonah saw the Ninevites as the most despicable people in the world, and yet God saw them differently, and He gave them a second chance and a new life.
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SHOWING THEIR TRUE NATURE

I wish we could end Jonah’s story here, but we can’t. There’s more — one more short chapter — and I think it’s important to look the “rest of the story.” Like I did in chapters 1 and 2, I’ll just hit the high spots.
The last verse of the chapter before ended with God no longer planning to destroy the Ninevite people. He stopped that plan and went o Plan B because of their repentance. And we see Jonah’s response — how the real Jonah feels.
<< change to Jonah 4:1 slide >>
And we see Jonah’s response — how the real Jonah feels. Jonah 4:1 says “Jonah thought this was utterly wrong, and he became angry. He prayed to the Lord, “Come on, Lord! Wasn’t this precisely my point when I was back in my own land? This is why I fled to Tarshish earlier! I know that you are a merciful and compassionate God, very patient, full of faithful love, and willing not to destroy. “
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The true Jonah is painting a picture of the true character of God — a picture that runs throughout all of the Old Testament and New (except for those few places where we’re getting a man’s interpretation of God, like that He would dash babies’ heads against the rocks. I don’t believe God ever said that — some man THOUGHT that was what God wanted, not what God really wanted.
So Jonah objects to God’s compassion and mercy for the enemies of Israel that Jonah considered HIS enemies, and he leaves the city to go off and pout. The Bible doesn’t use that word, but that’s basically what Jonah does. He goes out and builds himself a little hut, and God provides a shrub for Jonah to have shade from the sun. Jonah was happy about the shrub, but then God sent a worm to eat the shrub and then a dry east wind that intensified the heat, and Jonah was unhappy and ready to die. Using today’s terminology, Jonah says to God: “Go ahead and kill me and get this over with.”
It is at this point that God gives Jonah a little “talking to” — what we might call today “a come-to-Jesus talk.” In two sentences, we see where God is coming from.
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He says to Jonah in chapter 4, verses 10 and 11, in the Common English Bible: “You ‘pitied’ the shrub, for which you didn’t work and which you didn’t raise; it grew in a night and perished in a night. Yet for my part, can’t I pity Nineveh, that great city, in which there are more than one hundred twenty thousand people who can’t tell their right hand from their left, and also many animals?”
I do take slight issue with the word “pity” here. To me, it means “feel sorry for,” in a way that leave a “poor thing” taste in the mouth. I don’t think that’s what God meant.
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Nigerian pastor Femi Monehin quotes
Proverbs 21:13: (CEB) “Those who close their ears to the cries of the poor will themselves call out but receive no answer,”
and then describes it this way: “The root word for mercy in the Hebrew is the word chesed. And it means the ability to get right inside the other persons skin until we can see things with his eyes, think things with his mind, feel things with his feelings. In other words, being merciful is entering the situation of the other person, feeling their pain, and seeing the situation in their own way.” [ATTRIBUTION: Femi Monehin from “Mercy vs. Pity” post on his God’s Favourite House blog.]
In other words — and this me talking and not Pastor Monehin -- we may have made mistakes along the way, and perhaps we deserve pity, but God offers mercy — He sees with our eyes, He feels what we feel, and He understands where we’re coming from. He may not agree with our decision, but He understands how we came to make that decision, and when we realize our mistake, He offers mercy and support in getting our lives back on track.
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NEW TESTAMENT CONNECTIONS

But Jonah is not just in the Old Testament — He is mentioned specificaly three times in the New Testament, twice in Matthew and once in Luke, all three in he same context. In addition, I think there’s an implied connection. So let’s look at those New Testament connections just for a minute.
In Matthew and Luke, we read of the Scribes and Pharisees asking Jesus for a sign that He is from God, and He tells them the only sign they will get is the sign of Jonah — referring to the fact that Jonah was in the belly of the great fish for three days and three nights and that He would be in the tomb for that same amount of time.
<< change slide to Matthew 12:38-41 >>
38 At that time some of the legal experts and the Pharisees requested of Jesus, “Teacher, we would like to see a sign from you.” --
39 But he replied, “An evil and unfaithful generation searches for a sign, but it won’t receive any sign except Jonah’s sign. --
40 Just as Jonah was in the whale’s belly for three days and three nights, so the Human One [or the Son of Man] will be in the heart of the earth for three days and three nights. --
41 The citizens of Nineveh will stand up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it as guilty, because they hanged their hearts and lives in to Jonah’s reaching.--
And look, someone greater than Jonah is here. --
But this was more than just a prefiguration of the resurrection, as As Robert Steins put it, [ATTRIBUTION: Robert Stein, “The Met hod and Message of Jesus’ Teachings]. This is also an implied prefiguration of the judgment that would come to those who heard the Gospel of Jesus and ignored it or rejected it.
And speaking of the Gospel, I see another implied comparison of the story of Jonah to the story of Jesus calling he four fishermen to become fishers of men that we read earlier today.
<< change slide to MORE ON GOSPEL LESSON >>
So let’s look just for a minute at our Gospel Lesson for today. It may seem a little familiar, and it is, since it is about the calling of Andrew, Peter, James and John. But Matthew and Luke tell the story slightly different. I don’t think that means that one of the stories is wrong. I think it’s more that the two Gospel writers are filling in more details, and these four men were INTRODUCED to Jesus on one occasion and the great catch and the call to be fishers of men might have come later.
At any rate, after a whole night with not a single fish caught, Jesus tells the four fishermen to go out again and drop their nets for a catch. And what a catch! So many that the nets began breaking. This catch came from God, not from the efforts of men. The four fishermen quickly recognize that.
Then Jesus said, “Don’t be afraid. From now on, you will be fishing for people,” and Matthew tells us, “As soon as they brought the boats to the shore, they left everything and followed Jesus. They did become fishers of men, relying on God for the catch and not themselves. But the point is that they immediately obeyed — there was no reluctance to accept the task Jesus offered, unlike Jonah. There was no running away from God, only running toward Jesus. Now, it’s true that they were not changed immediately — we read about times they held resentment for outsiders and other instances that made it clear they still had a way to go to completely be faithful followers of Jesus, but they were on the road to Nineveh, not headed in the opposite direction.
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OUR HEARTS RESPOND TO THE WORD

And now we come to where we talk about how we respond to what we have heard God’s Word. What have we learned? It’s more pleasing in God’s e e to leave eve ything and follow Him immediately than to refuse to do the task we’re called to and try to run away. It’s more pleasing in God’s eye to be the wicked people of Nineveh who, when hearing the Word, turned from heir wicked ways and asked for forgiveness. Those are clear from what God says at t he time or from His actions later. You don’t want to be on the wrong side, here.
We learn from Jonah that it does no good to run — God will find you. But we also learn how God is willing to provide for us in our search for Him and Him will in our lives — if we will just search. And when we hear the call and understand what the call means, God wants s to follow t he call with a willing heart, not a begrudging heart.
And perhaps the most far-reaching lesson for us is that God looks with compassion and mercy on each individual — even the least-deserving ones — and He expects that of us, too. At first glance, that seems easy. OF COURSE I treat everyone equally — not a prejudiced bone in my body. OF COURSE I have compassion and pity for those less fortunate than me. OF COURSE I try to love other people the way Jesus loved. OF COURSE. But unlike Jesus — who never made exceptions and who loved even those who hated Him — we make an exception here and there. I’m willing to help somebody who is TRYING to help themselves (in other words, those who I think are deserving of my help). And if I voted for Trump, I’m not going to have anything to do with those worthless folks who voted for Biden — and some call them more than worthless:non-Christians, devils who will rot in hell). Some say they are compassionate and caring, but they never cut any slack to anyone who doesn’t meet their standards, whatever those standards are. I could go on with more examples, but you get the idea.
We are called to more than talking a good game — rather, we are called to LIVE what isn’t a game at all — a life that exemplifies Jesus — all that he WAS, all that He TAUGHT, all that He STOOD for, and all that He DIED for. We clearly cannot do that ourselves, on our own. No, we have to rely on Christ Himself, our Heavenly Father, and the Holy Spirit that lives within us to accomplish all that. But — and t his is important — it is all DOABLE, with God’s help, if we really want to do it.
We’ve talked about how some other people have responded to the Word of God and how we can respond. We also respond by saying what we believe. Join as we say the traditional words of the Apostle’s Creed as our Affirmation of Faith:
<< change to the slide with the words to the AFFIRMATION OF FAITH >>
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AFFIRMATION OF FAITH

I believe in God, the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth; and in Jesus Christ his only Son, our Lord;who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead, and buried;the third day he rose from the dead; he ascended into heaven, and sitteth at the right hand of God the Father Almighty; from thence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead.I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic church,the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen.
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INVITATION

<< after the INVITATION, change to INVITATION HYMN slide, which gives the name of the hymn and stays up for a short introduction of the hymn . After the hymn introduction, change slide to words to the second hymn, which will look like a single slide, but will include several slides, depending on the number of verses, etc. If a verse is broken up into more than one slide, the signal for the slide change is a dash (— ) >>

INVITATION SONG — “Softly and Tenderly” (verses 1 and 4)

Once again we’re talking about being called. God called Jonah in, I’m sure a soft and tender voice, to do what God needed to be done. Jonah ran away from the task. Then Jesus called the four fishermen to stop catching fish and start catching people. They left all and followed Him. Now, Jesus is calling you and me, softly and tenderly. It may be a call to follow Him for the first time, or it may be a call to renew your relationship with Him, or He may have some task for you. How will YOU respond? There’s a fairly long introduction, and we’ll repeat the chorus after the second verse.
Verse and Chorus
Softly and tenderly,
Jesus is calling,
calling for you and for me.
See, on the portals,
He's waiting and watching,
watching for you and for me.
Come home, come home,
Ye, who are weary, come home.
Earnestly, tenderly, Jesus is calling
calling "O, sinner, come home."
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Verse and Chorus (sing chorus twice)
O, for the wonderful love
He has promised,
promised for you and for me.
Tho we have sinned,
He has mercy and pardon,
pardon for you and for me.
Come home, come home,
Ye, who are weary, come home.
Earnestly, tenderly, Jesus is calling
calling "O, sinner, come home."
Come home, come home,
Ye, who are weary, come home.
Earnestly, tenderly, Jesus is calling
calling "O, sinner, come home."
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BENEDICTION

Text for Benediction prayer goes.
<< After the Benediction and the “Amen,” change to FINAL slide and leave up >>

FINAL SLIDE

STOP LIVESTREAMING AND RECORDING IN PROCLAIM AND OBS/GO OFF AIR

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NEW TESTAMENT LESSON — SIGN OF JONAH JSUS THREE DAYS AND THREE NIGHTS IN THE TOMB
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