The Commencement Speech I Needed

Celebrating Our Graduates & June Stratmeyer Sunday Welcome June 6, 2021 Pastor Don Hackett Worship Hosts – Our Graduates Announcements Celebrating June Stratmeyer – Women of Centre Prelude Organist Kathleen Wilson Call to Worship (Psalm 121) I lift up my eyes to the hills— from where will my help come? My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth. He will not let your foot be moved; he who keeps you will not slumber. He who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep. The Lord is your keeper; the Lord is your shade at your right hand. The sun shall not strike you by day, nor the moon by night. The Lord will keep you from all evil; he will keep your life. The Lord will keep your going out and your coming in from this time on and forevermore. Come, Let us worship the Lord our Maker! Hymn #530 Morning Has Broken https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h5D3LEjGF8A 1 Prayer of Confession & the Lord’s Prayer God of all righteousness, we know how the apostle Paul counted himself as a righteous person when zealously carrying out the law as a Pharisee. He considered himself to be blameless, but counted all that as loss when he came to know Jesus as Lord and Savior. From that time on, righteousness took on a new meaning. Paul knew that he no longer needed to perform exemplary deeds in order to earn your love. All he had to do was to accept your gracious and unconditional love. Forgive us, O God, when we believe that good behavior is all that is needed to secure your love. We know that we cannot earn nor deserve all that you have done for us. Help us to surrender ourselves so that, like Paul, we can celebrate lives centered in Jesus Christ. Forgive us, we pray, Creator, Redeemer, Sustainer, and lead us into new life. The good news therefore is this: In Jesus Christ we are accepted, we are loved, we are forgiven. Thanks be to God! Hear us as we pray the prayer your risen Son taught us: 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. Sharing of Prayer Requests 2 Prayers of the People (adapted from prayer by Phil Chick https://www.xavier.edu/jesuitresource/online-resources/prayer-index/graduation-and-graduates) Good and loving God, We thank you for the completion of another academic year. We are grateful for your guidance and love as we shared in this journey. Bless and guide our graduates as they reach this end, and as they chart new beginnings. May what they have learned allow them to truly be "women and men for others." Help them to use all that they have learned to make the world a better place – to serve others in true solidarity and kinship - to seek ways to help the poor, the marginalized, and those who are suffering - and to always seek the greater good. We know that some of them will experience pain and hardship, and we know that some of them already have, and we ask you to grant them solace and strength. Finally, Father, we thank you for giving us the opportunity to build our community with these young men and women while they are here. Though many will be leaving our immediate presence, we know that they will always be with us as part of the Centre Church family. We ask all of this in your name, and in the name of your Son. Celebrating Our Graduates The Offering (online donations at https://centrechurchpa.org/) Offertory Prayer of Dedication and Illumination 3 Scripture Text – Philippians 3:7-9 The Message Translation The very credentials these people are waving around as something special, I’m tearing up and throwing out with the trash—along with everything else I used to take credit for. And why? Because of Christ. Yes, all the things I once thought were so important are gone from my life. Compared to the high privilege of knowing Christ Jesus as my Master, firsthand, everything I once thought I had going for me is insignificant—dog dung. I’ve dumped it all in the trash so that I could embrace Christ and be embraced by him. I didn’t want some petty, inferior brand of righteousness that comes from keeping a list of rules when I could get the robust kind that comes from trusting Christ— God’s righteousness. Sermon “Paul’s Commencement Speech” Rev. Dr. Don Hackett We are in the wonderful season of graduations! The hard work is complete. Celebrations have begun. Ceremonies with flowing robes, lines of graduates, various awards, and commencement speeches. Commencement speeches…what a tough assignment! As a speaker you see people being polite, but you know that they are probably not really listening. The pressure is on to cool, humorous, and deep at the same time. Of course, the main thing people want is for your speech to be short and sweet so they can get on with the celebrations with family and friends. This letter Paul is writing to the church in Philippi is like a commencement speech. It is short, affectionate, and to the point. Paul knows they are on their own now and will have to go forward without him. As I thought about what Paul would say to us, graduates and all followers of Christ, I came up three short summary statements. Here is what I think Paul would say to us today. 4 1.Life is hard. “No kidding,” we would reply. “We are just coming out of a global pandemic. It has been difficult for mostly everyone!” Paul would understand our frustration with the past year. I am sure he would pray for us and encourage us to hang in there. • I think, though, he would remind us that life has been hard for most people throughout history. • There has been and will continue to be natural disasters, crime, abuse, wars, sickness, and death. • Welcome to the world under the curse of sin and death. The good news is that God is with us to carry us in our troubles. • Paul reminds us that as followers of Christ, life can become even more difficult. Paul was hated, cursed, and persecuted. A world in darkness does not like the light of Christ and those how carry it. • Paul knows that as you and I seek to follow Christ, it will be hard. We will be tempted with options that look easier and less demanding. • Paul says when life becomes hard, “Do everything without grumbling or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, “children of God without fault in a warped and crooked generation.” Then you will shine among them like stars in the sky as you hold firmly to the word of life. Here is the truth about hard times. God did not want or plan them, but God will use them to shape us into the people we are called to be. 2. Life is not all about you. You graduates have worked hard and should be celebrated. We are proud of you and happy for you. • The reality is that in a few weeks all the limelight will be gone. • You will be left with a stack of graduation cards and maybe a gift or two. • You will be starting something new like a job, more schooling, or even the military. • You might feel like you are at the bottom of pecking order again. • You might even feel lonely and depressed. • Where is all the attention and status I just had! • I think Paul would say, “I know how you feel. I worked hard all my life to succeed. When I thought I was near to top of world, it all came crashing down. I thought I had life figured out and it slipped out of my hands.” The truth about following Jesus is that we give up our lives to have God’s live in us. As followers of Christ, we die so we can live. As you enter this next season of your lives, God will meet you wherever you go. • We can choose to ignore God, but God will not give up reaching out to us. 5 • At some point we come to realize God can do a better job of running our lives that we can. • Sometimes we must hit a wall, experience loss, failure, or deep pain before we say, “Help, God.” • Know when that happens, the Holy Spirit will guide you to people and places that will give you hope and life. • Life is not found getting all we want. Real life is only found in the God who gave us life from the start and will be there at the end. 3. You are not in control. You and I are told as child that we need to make our way in the world. We need to chart our destinies and go for it. Some of that is true. Hard work can open doors. Opportunities are for those who are prepared. We make decisions every day that either help us or harm us. Yes, we are individual moral agents responsible for our actions and the consequences of our actions. At the same time there is so much out of our control. • Did we pick when we born? Did we pick our parents? • Did we get our choice of who was in our family or where we would grow up? • Do we know what this next year will bring? • Do we know when we are going to die? There is so much out of our control, but we try to make the best of it, don’t we? The adventure of faith is when we let go of control and let God’s life flow in us. Trying to take control of all the people and events in your life is exhausting. You and I are not the masters of the universe. God is. We were designed to flow with God. Like a leaf on a stream, we do our best when we allow the love and wisdom of God to carry us. Our job is to listen for the voice of God and follow. We do our part and God takes care of the rest. Let us pray, Gracious God, help us to know and trust that… 1.Though Life is hard, God is with us to carry us in our troubles. 2.We realize that Life is not all about us, so we give up our lives to have God’s life in us. 3. And even though we struggle to take control, help us today and each day let go of control and let Your love and power carry in us. Amen. 6 Confession of Faith - Apostles Creed (origins from the First Century) 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 Ghost, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead, and buried; he descended into hell; the third day he rose again from the dead; he ascended into heaven, and sitteth on 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 Ghost; the holy catholic Church; the communion of saints; the forgiveness of sins; the resurrection of the body; and the life everlasting. Amen. Hymn #531 Abide with Me https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i5nbq_VEea0 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. 7