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Stream Audio Worship AboveNote that we may not be able to include the hymns in pre-recorded services - thank you for your understanding. Covered under ONE LICENSE: #400013-P Unrecognizable: Our World in Christ
Sunday, May 2nd, 2021 || 5th Sunday of Easter - Communion Pastor Christy Wright Yes, we are meeting outdoors at 9:30 AM, this Sunday in front of the Church! For full details, please read below in the Community Announcements Section. If you are unable to join us in person, we invite you to light a candle at 9:30 AM and join us in prayer online or over the phone for a pre-recorded service. Audio worship, including the prelude and postlude, prayers, and the sermon is available at https://georgewhitefieldumc.weebly.com/worship-services or over the phone at (978) 990-5000, access code 719365#. Just dial in, enter the access code on your keypad, and you will hear the service begin with music. Note that we may not be able to include the hymns in pre-recorded services - thank you for your understanding. Announcements Opening Hymn Scripture Reading - 1 John 4:7-21 Beloved, let us love one another, because love is from God; everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, for God is love. God’s love was revealed among us in this way: God sent Jesus into the world so that we might live through Christ. In this is love, not that we loved God but that God loved us and sent Jesus Christ to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins. Beloved, since God loved us so much, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God lives in us, and God’s love is perfected in us. By this we know that we abide in God and God in us, because God has given us the Holy Spirit. And we have seen and do testify that God has sent Jesus as the Savior of the world. God abides in those who confess that Jesus is the Son of God, and they abide in God. So we have known and believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and those who abide in love abide in God, and God abides in them. Love has been perfected among us in this: that we may have boldness on the day of judgment, because as God is, so are we in this world. There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear; for fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not reached perfection in love. We love because God first loved us. Those who say, “I love God,” and hate their siblings are liars; for those who do not love a sibling whom they have seen, cannot love God whom they have not seen. The commandment we have from God is this: those who love God must love their siblings also. Sermon Several years ago, I attended an enormous conference called the Parliament of World Religions. It was an incredible experience where I encountered people of all different faiths from all over the globe. One of my favorite parts of the conference were the meals. In the Sihk faith community, offering free, hot meals to all who wanted them is a regular part of their faith practice - and they brought this to the conference. As we entered the space, we were invited to remove our shoes and don a headscarf as a sign of respect. We were then led into a large hall lined with long, narrow rugs with aisles in between. We were seated on the rugs next to strangers who quickly became wonderful conversation partners, and we were given trays as the food began to pass by us. The food was traditional Indian food, and vegetarian, so that all could partake in the meal. And we could feast and get seconds and thirds until we had had our fill. I experienced so much love and grace from folks that I didn’t even know, and I was filled to the brim with gratitude. This meal was completely free, and was offered every single day of the conference. Any extra at the end of the day was transported to local shelters and food pantries, so there was no waste. What love is this, that I was fed, without cost, by complete strangers with no strings attached? As I reflect on this memory, I’m thinking a lot about what love does in the world. Love does incredible things: love is generous and kind. Love listens. And because love’s origin is Divine, because love’s source is from God, we know that love is eternal. It reminds of how our founder, John Wesley, described grace: because God loved us first, we are always found in love. We are always bathed in grace. This grace has been present from the beginning of time; we can’t earn it, and we can’t lose it. It is ours, always, because God loved us first. So what is our response? On a personal level, we are often led toward loving God. We build a relationship with Jesus, and we come to know the Divine in deeper and more powerful ways, each and every day. John Wesley knew this type of faith to be personal piety - a seeking for personal holiness that bolstered our own relationship with God. But Wesley also knew that focusing on personal piety and nothing else would lead to a faith that was one-sided, a faith that, in some ways, was self-centered and self-serving. So Wesley proposed a balance between personal piety and what he called social holiness. This is the understanding that we are called to transform the world through God’s love. It means that we take seriously the line in the Lord’s Prayer, Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. As Christians, we have a vision of what heaven will be like: where all tears will be wiped away, where there is no one in need, where we will all feast at the banquet together. Our call is to bring forth the kingdom of God, here on earth as it is in heaven. This means we love: love deeply and love thoroughly. As we close this morning, I would invite you to reflect on how we can love in these two ways: love God, and love neighbor. What does that look like? How does this manifest in our world? And so, may we experience God’s great love all our days, taking heart in knowing that God loved us first. May we follow in Jesus’ example of love, who spread a feast for all who hunger and thirst. And may we heed the Holy Spirit, who guides us and reminds us of the love we have and the love we can give, with each and every breath we take. Amen. Communion Hymn of Meditation - God Be With You Till We Meet Again Benediction And now, may the peace of the Lord Christ go with you wherever God may send you; may God guide you through the wilderness, protect you through the storm; may God bring you home rejoicing at the wonders God has shown you; may God bring you home rejoicing once again into our doors.
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