Nineteenth Sunday of Kingdomtide
Worship Theme: God’s Intensions for Family
Genesis 2:18-23a Common English Bible
Hebrews 2:9-11 Common English Bible
Mark 10:2-16 The Message Bible
“What A Family Is Meant To Be”
A reading from the book of Mark, Chapter 10, verses 2-16, Listen for a word from God to you and me, the people of God. . .
Here ends the reading of the Gospel of Mark. . .
Let us pray. . .
Loving and gracious God, we thank you for your word that is eternal. We pray that as we contemplate on your word you would speak to us in ways that will give us clarity in what you would have us carry out that word in our lives. May we come away changed, transformed, into who you would have us be in the world. Speak Lord, your children are listening.
I don’t know about you but I can’t help but look at the covers of the tabloids when I am in the line at the grocery store. They always make me laugh when I read them. I really can’t believe some of the stuff I read on the covers. Most of them have to do with this person or that person having marriage troubles. Or this one or that one is cheating on their spouse or partner. Does the world really need to know about these peoples personal life? I guess that’s what sells but it makes me kind of sad. With all of this unfaithfulness in the world the family almost seems like something from the past at times. Are people who stay together and love one another a dying breed? This is not what God had intended. So, what does it look like to be a family? Why did God even create “families” anyway?
From the Genesis scripture from this morning, we see the divine creation of the first family. God didn’t want for humankind to be alone. Because of that God created a suitable helper for them. When God brought the “new creation” to the human, they were delighted and said that this one was finally bone of their bone and flesh of their flesh. The human needed someone. . . something. . . that was just like them. All the animals and such that came before just didn’t quite make the grade. It wasn’t until God had made a creation just like it that they were happy and satisfied. They were searching for a “helper perfect for them”. Human beings are what make up the human family. And it is within humanity that we find our perfect helper for life. . . the one that when we find them we feel they are “flesh of our flesh and bone of our bone.”
God’s family is also inclusionary. God wants all of humanity to be included in the family. That is why God sent Jesus Christ. Through and in Jesus, all who call upon His name and believe that He is the Son of God are considered sons and daughters of God. But that invitation is for ALL who believe. As I said. . . God’s family is inclusive. We, as a church, are part of that family and we are continually reaching out to others to come and join us. . . to be part of the family of families with us. But there are still some that put conditions on becoming part of the family. . . you have to be a certain type of person or you have to have to have a certain socio-economic reality to be part of the family of God. Well. . . when Jesus came down from the heavenly realms and lived among humanity He didn’t hang out with the perfect, He hung out with those who needed the grace of God. It was those whom He came to save and it was those names that were the first on the adoption papers that were writ at the foot of the Cross. . .
We hear today about so many people getting divorced. There are so many single parent families. Unfortunately, marriage has become a contract that can be broken verses a covenant that two people makes with one another. Divorce is not a new subject to humanity. Jesus himself dealt with the same issues in His day. It was as if the Pharisees were looking for a “loop hole” in God’s word. They even argued that Moses gave them permission to dismiss. . . divorce their wife. In Jesus’ answer to them in the Mark scripture, we can see how God intended that the family stay together. . . the two individuals become one in a new unity with each other. It is not disposable but it is God’s union of two people. There is permanence in the Christian Family. What God has put together, let no man put asunder, let no man come between them. Is your spouse or partner the person God wanted you to have? Then in a perfect marriage there is no third person. Our spouses or partners come first and the in-laws come second.
We need to be a family. Now in a family there is going to be times of strife and there is going to be times of disagreement. But through all of this, we are family. We need to be united together in the covenant we have made with each other and with God. As I preached a couple weeks ago, when Diane and al renewed their vows, there needs to be love in all of our relationships, especially in the relationships we have with the family of God. Without it, where is our Christian witness. Without it where is the love of God shown in Christian community. Without it. . . we are just the same as the world around us. But we have a higher calling. We have the calling to be imitators. . . to duplicate. . . try to be like the perfector of our faith our Risen Lord, Jesus Christ who showed love and acceptance to all and loved them like the children He took upon His knee. We need to be bound together as one. . . As we begin our liturgy of Communion, let us come to the table as part of the family of God in oneness with each other, as we join those through history who have come to the same table we will celebrate.
Amen
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October 25, 2012
Worship Theme: God’s Intentions for Family
Mark 10:2-16
Divorce
Children
Genesis 2:18-23a (Common English Bible)
Hebrews 2:9-11
Call to Worship (Psalm 25:1-2, 8-10)
Unison Prayer by Pastor Ruth Foss
Pastoral Prayer by Pastor Ruth Foss
Prayer of Dedication by Pastor Ruth Foss
Communion
and sermon – “What A Family Is Meant To Be”
by Pastor Ruth Foss
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A Handmaiden of the Lord
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Suncook United Methodist Church
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Suncook, NH
October 7, 2012
Nineteenth Sunday of Kingdomtide
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