A Way with Words

Second Sunday in Lent 11am, February 28, 2021 In the Sanctuary, Online at Zoom & https://www.facebook.com/centrechurchpa/ 83 New Park Road, New Park, PA 17352 https://centrechurchpa.org 1 Second Sunday in Lent Announcements Don Wilson Prelude Hymn #1 How Great Thou Art Call to Worship by Ann Siddall, Stillpoint Spirituaity Centre https://thepastorsworkshop.com/calls-to-worship-on-lent/ This is a place for those who are hungry and thirsty in spirit. Only those who ache for meaning will pursue it. Only those who yearn for a deeper life will seek it. This is a place for those who ache and yearn for something more. So let us come here today with our hunger and thirst, our unsatisfied longings, our heart-felt yearnings, In Christ we come! Prayer of Confession & the Lord’s Prayer https://www.faithandworship.com/prayers_Repentance.htm Let us pray, first in silence. (Time for silent reflection and confession). Unclutter our lives, Lord, we have too much, consume too much, expect too much. Grant us perspective; to see this world through others’ eyes than just our own. Grant us compassion; where there is need, to play our part, and not turn aside. Grant us gratitude for what we have, our daily bread the gift of life. Unclutter our lives, Lord, give us space, simplicity, and thankful hearts. In Christ, Amen We pray this humbly in Christ's name, who taught us to pray: 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 debts, as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For Thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever. Amen. 2 Presentation of New Members – Jeanenne Tylee, Ken & Cindy Hagge Presentation of New Members (Pastor Don) Today we recognize that Jeanenne Tylee, Ken & Cindy Hagge have requested to join our church, have made a profession of faith to our leaders, and have been received into membership of Centre Presbyterian Church. We are so glad to have you here this morning! • Ken & Cindy are being received as full active members • Jeanenne is being received as an affiliate member. We will ask you some questions about your faith and commitment and we will than ask some questions of our congregation as well. (Pastor Don) New Member Questions: Friends, show your purpose by answering these questions: - Is Jesus Christ your Lord and Savior and do you trust him? If so say “I do.” - Do your intend to be his disciple and show his love? If so say “I do.” - Friends, Will you be a faithful member of this congregation, giving of yourselves in every way and will you seek the fellowship of God’s people wherever you may be? If so say “I will.” (Elder Debra Lannon) Congregation Questions: Do you, the people of this church, promise to welcome and encourage these disciples, and by your fellowship and love, to strengthen their family ties with the household of God and their engagement with the ministry and mission of Jesus Christ? If so, say “We do.” (Pastor Don) Friends, welcome to the ministry and mission of Christ’s body here at Centre Presbyterian Church. Go and serve the Lord with joy, wisdom, and deep love. 3 G-1.0304 The Ministry of Members Membership in the Church of Jesus Christ is a joy and a privilege. It is also a commitment to participate in Christ’s mission. A faithful member bears witness to God’s love and grace and promises to be involved responsibly in the ministry of Christ’s Church. Such involvement includes: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. proclaiming the good news in word and deed, taking part in the common life and worship of a congregation, lifting one another up in prayer, mutual concern, and active support, studying Scripture and the issues of Christian faith and life, supporting the ministry of the church through the giving of money, time, and talents, 6. demonstrating a new quality of life within and through the church, 7. responding to God’s activity in the world through service to others, 8. living responsibly in the personal, family, vocational, political, cultural, and social relationships of life, 9. working in the world for peace, justice, freedom, and human fulfillment, 10. caring for God’s creation, 11. participating in the governing responsibilities of the church, 12. and reviewing and evaluating regularly the integrity of one’s membership, 13. and considering ways in which one’s participation in the worship and service of the church may be increased and made more meaningful. G-1.0402 Active Member An active member is a person who has made a profession of faith in Christ, has been baptized, has been received into membership of the church, has voluntarily submitted to the government of this church, and participates in the church’s work and worship. In addition, active members participate in the governance of the church and may be elected to ordered ministry (see G-2.0102). Active members shall regularly, after prayerful consideration, recommit themselves to the disciplines and responsibilities of membership outlined in G-1.0304. The session shall have responsibility for preparing those who would become active members of the congregation. G-1.0403 Affiliate Member An affiliate member is a member of another congregation of this denomination or of another denomination or Christian body, who has temporarily moved from the community where the congregation of membership is situated, has presented a certificate of good standing from the appropriate council or governing body of that congregation, and has been received by the session as an affiliate member. An affiliate member may participate in the life of the congregation in the same manner as an active member except that an affiliate member may not vote in congregational meetings or be elected to ordered ministry or other office in the congregation. 4 Hymn I Was There To Hear Your Borning Cry https://youtu.be/WUfLZNtAtjA Sharing of Prayer Requests Prayers of the People https://www.faithandworship.com/Lent_intercessions.htm#gsc.tab=0 Lord, you have chosen us and set us aside for service in the places where we live, work, and move. You have called us to be lights in dark places, drawing others into your glorious light. You have called us to speak out, proclaiming your love, justice, and mercy. You have called us to be neighbors to all people. For this privilege of service we thank you but also ask humbly for your power and strength without which we can do nothing. Fill us, we pray, with your Spirit that we might live and work to your praise and glory, In Christ, Amen. The Offering (online donations at https://centrechurchpa.org/) Offertory Scripture - Ephesians 4:25-32 (New International Version) Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you. 5 Sermon “Have God’s Way with Words” Rev. Dr. Don Hackett Introduction Welcome to the hard work of love. It involves our words. The work of love involves all our words. Paul writes: Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen. Ephesians 4:25 Let’s break this down line by line. Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, Word control This seems to imply that we have control over what comes out of our mouths. Can that be true. Do you and I have the power to shape what we say and how we say it? You bet we do. This is a part of our creative power. We know from Genesis 1 that God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light.” God used words to create reality. We are given that same wonderful ability to create something out of thin air. That is all our speech is, air with tones. Amazing! All God’s creatures are given this gift. Humans are have the ability to speak, sing, shout, and bless in a multitude of ways. Thank you, God, for giving us this delightful instrument to impart what is good, true, and beautiful. I love the hymns we are hearing today. I love being together so I can hear each of your unique and precious voices. Encouraging words I love it when we use our words to build up and bless each other. That is what happened in our annual congregational meeting last week. • We heard words from Mary about how with God’s help we creatively thrived in worship, fellowship, and mission in a most difficult year. • We heard Eric describe the generosity of this congregation even when our facilities were shut down. • We listened Roger detail how the Trustees persevered in doing the hard work of repairing and equipping our church buildings for ministry and mission. • Rev. Dr. Erin Cox-Holmes used enthusiastic words to acknowledge and praise the good work happening in and through this congregation. We have control over our words. In the church we are to use them to bless and build up one another. 6 Rotten words Paul observed that there are times we use words that do not bless. He wrote, “let no unwholesome word come out of your mouths.” The word for “unwholesome” here is from the Greek word, sapros. It means worthless, deprived, bad, or rotten. What do you do with rotten fruit? You do not sell it to people. You throw out in the compose pile. Likewise, words that will make people sick and hurt them, we do not use. We push them away. We have all heard and used words that have done damage. When that happens, what should we do? We could say, “I did not say that well. Let me try again.” Maybe we say, “What I said was not helpful. I apologize. Please forgive me.” Walk away Depending on where we live and work and what we watch or read, we can be exposed to a barrage of toxic language. When I worked on construction sites as a young man, I heard a lot of course talk during the day. It left me feeling yucky. I wanted to go home and take a shower. Have you ever felt like that? Words can pollute our minds and sadden our souls. We cannot always control what is going on around us, but we can walk away. We can change the channel. We can logout. We can shut off the program or media that is leading down a discouraging path. Pause before sending When I read, “let no unwholesome word come out of your mouths”, I realized that toxic words could come out our fingers as well. The emails we write and the text we send can do harm. I think it is wise put the addresses in last on our emails so we can review what we wrote before it is sent. We need to double check the texts we write or dictate. Auto correct has gotten people into embarrassing situations. I think this caution about speech applies to content we forward to others. Please stop and pray about what we send others. Do the recipients really need to know or need what we are sending? Will it bring people together or push groups further apart? Forwarding emails and social media post need to be carefully considered. The internet can be like the Wild West. People are being hurt out there. Let us not add to it damage. 7 Building up others There is a vital of communication guideline in the verse I read that bears repeating. Paul said: [say] only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen. Ephesians 4:25 Our speech has the other person’s best interest in mind. Is what I am about to say or write 1) helpful, 2) meet a need they have, and 3) benefit them? Those three criteria are great filters for us to apply. 1) Will this be helpful? Sometimes we say something because we frustrated or impatient. Words of anger or blaming fly out of our mouths and we have just made the situation worse. In James 1:19,20 we are told to: My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, because human anger does not produce the righteousness that God desires. If we are slow to speak, then we have time to filter out those words that will do damage. If you are becoming upset, talk a deep breath or two. Take a walk and cool down. Ask God to help you to communicate the truth in love. 2) Will these words meet a need? Sometimes we tell people things because of our need. Maybe we still angry and want a place to dump our anger. Perhaps we crave attention or desire to fit in. I think that is the source of where much gossip emerges. People want to be noticed and needed. Unwholesome talk can come from all sorts of motivations. Before you talk or pass on post, ask God to show you your heart in this situation. The love and light of the Holy Spirit is in the business of helping us know and purity our motives. 3) Will these words benefit them? Will people be encouraged, strengthened, hopeful, and filled with God’s peace by our words? You and know when our words are sincere and helpful. As soon as they come out, we can see the effect. People glow when they are blessed by our words. This week I saw a newspaper article about a local man getting into trouble. I know this man and his family. I thought about sending this article on to people who also know this man. Something, Someone made me pause. Did they really need to know this? Would they think less of this man? I sensed no one would really benefit from my sharing this. I decided to pray for this man and his family and hold my tongue. 8 Devil foothold Let’s step back and look at the big picture here. We live in a fallen, corrupt world. The Bible says we are not alone here. God is here. Yet, there are forces here that do not obey God. Satan and a whole world of evil is set against God and everyone God loves. That includes you and me. Jesus was tempted and attacked by Satan. Satan made his way into the inner circle of Jesus and influenced his disciples. Yes, Satan and evil were given a death blow with the death and resurrection of Christ. However, Satan and evil did not disappear with Jesus. They are in a desperate fight to distract, divide, deceive, and destroy as many people as possible before the final judgement. From the first book of the Bible, Genesis, to the last book, Revelation, we see the fingerprints of Satan. He was and is a prideful, fallen archangel who has convinced many other angles and humans to join him. Paul warns us that we need to be vigilant. In Ephesians 4:27 says, “do not give the devil a foothold.” In Ephesians 6:11, it reads, “Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes.” Part of being vigilant is being careful and intentional with our speech. Satan knows if he can get us talking down each other, we will divide and be weak. In this season of Lent, join me letting Christ be Lord of our language. May what we say truly be a blessing to all who hear. Blessing According to Jewish Scholar Ariel Burger a basic principle for all Jews is: “Be a blessing.” ” https://onbeing.org/programs/ariel-burger-be-a-blessing/ In blessing each other we lift each other up. We help carry each other. We remind each other that we are children of God and not alone. Our words and our blessings speak into reality the goodness of God. There are plenty of ways simple ways to bless each other: • It is good to see you. • Thank you for being here. • I have missed you. • Please be safe and God bless you. • I am praying for you. • God watch over you. Friends, with these words and many others, let us truly be a blessing this week! 9 Confession of Faith (The Apostles’ Creed, AD390) I believe in God, the Father Almighty, the Creator of heaven and earth, and in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord, who was conceived of the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried. He descended into hell. The third day He arose again from the dead. He ascended into heaven and sitteth at the right hand of God the Father Almighty, from whence He shall come to judge the living 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 life everlasting. Amen. Hymn #419 Guide Me, O Thou Great Jehovah https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wT4n1hGjDDg Benediction Let the majesty of the Father be the light by which we walk, the compassion of the Son be the love by which we live, the presence of the Spirit be the power by which we serve. Amen. 10