Sermons

FILTER BY:

← back to list

Jun 21, 2020

Succession Planning - June 21, 2020

Succession Planning - June 21, 2020

Passage: Deuteronomy 30:15-20

Speaker: Rev. Vivian McCarthy, Pastor

Then Moses summoned Joshua and said to him in the sight of all Israel: “Be strong and bold, for you are the one who will go with this people into the land that the Lord has sworn to their ancestors to give them; and you will put them in possession of it. 8 It is the Lord who goes before you. God will be with you and will not fail you or forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed.” ~Deuteronomy 31:7-8
June 21, 2020 - 10 am
Second Sunday After Pentecost
 
Opening Praise Good, Good Father
~Chris Tomlin, Brown, Barrett Copyright © 2014 Capitol CMG Paragon CCLI License #101999
 
Call to Worship

When we talk about sin, we need to understand what sin is. Sin is not God says 'you can't do this' because [God] wants to take something away from you. He says: "If you do this, it will be death. If you do this, it will be life." And then [God] says: "Please, choose life, so that you can live. I've made you, I know how you work. I've made this whole Earth, I know how it works. Please, choose life. ~Lacey Mosley

The heart is our hidden center, beyond the grasp of our reason and of others; only the Spirit of God can fathom the human heart and know it fully. The heart is the place of decision, deeper than our psychic drives. It is the place of truth, where we choose life or death. It is the place of encounter. ~Pope John Paul II

Hymn Sing Praise to God Who Reigns Above
UMH #126 – Verses 1, 2, 4
 
Sing praise to God who reigns above, the God of all creation,
the God of power, the God of love, the God of our salvation.
With healing balm my soul is filled and every faithless murmur stilled:
To God all praise and glory.
 
The Lord is never far away, but through all grief distressing,
an ever present help and stay, our peace and joy and blessing.
As with a mother's tender hand, God gently leads the chosen band:
To God all praise and glory.
 
Let all who name Christ's holy name give God all praise and glory;
let all who own his power proclaim aloud the wondrous story!
Cast each false idol from its throne, for Christ is Lord, and Christ alone:
To God all praise and glory.
 
Unison Prayer
 
Great and glorious God, in your creativity, generosity and wisdom, you gave us a world where change is constant and amazing.  Seasons change, each reveling its particular beauty.  Children change, growing in their abilities and understandings, and we are awed by their development.  Science and technology change the world as discoveries expand horizons and offer life-changing medical advances, among other things.  As we look toward change in our congregation, God, show us your amazing work in this process and give us peace as well as a sense of excitement for where you are leading!  In Jesus’ name.  Amen.
 
Proclamation and Response

Meditation Succession Planning

Listen to these words from Deuteronomy, chapter 31, verses 1 through 3:
 
When Moses had finished speaking all these words to all Israel, 2 he said to them: “I am now one hundred and twenty years old. I am no longer able to get about, and the Lord has told me, ‘You shall not cross over the Jordan.’ 3 The Lord your God himself will cross over before you.
 
Deuteronomy chapter 30, verses 15 through 20:
15 See, I have set before you today life and prosperity, death and adversity. 16 If you obey the commandments of the Lord your God that I am commanding you today, by loving the Lord your God, walking in his ways, and observing his commandments, decrees, and ordinances, then you shall live and become numerous, and the Lord your God will bless you in the land that you are entering to possess. 17 But if your heart turns away and you do not hear, but are led astray to bow down to other gods and serve them, 18 I declare to you today that you shall perish; you shall not live long in the land that you are crossing the Jordan to enter and possess. 19 I call heaven and earth to witness against you today that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses.
 
Choose life so that you and your descendants may live, 20 loving the Lord your God, obeying God, and holding fast to God; for that means life to you and length of days, so that you may live in the land that the Lord swore to give to your ancestors, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.
 
 
Deuteronomy, chapter 31, verses 7 and 8
7 Then Moses summoned Joshua and said to him in the sight of all Israel: “Be strong and bold, for you are the one who will go with this people into the land that the Lord has sworn to their ancestors to give them; and you will put them in possession of it. 8 It is the Lord who goes before you. God will be with you and will not fail you or forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed.”
 
I want to close today with a prayer from Paul’s letter to the Philippians – a prayer of encouragement and fondness.  A prayer that expresses my own heart:
 
3 I thank my God every time I remember you, 4 constantly praying with joy in every one of my prayers for all of you, 5 because of your sharing in the gospel from the first day until now. 6 I am confident of this, that the one who began a good work among you will bring it to completion by the day of Jesus Christ. 9 And this is my prayer, that your love may overflow more and more with knowledge and full insight 10 to help you to determine what is best, so that in the day of Christ you may be pure and blameless, 11 having produced the harvest of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ for the glory and praise of God. (Phil 1:3-6, 9-11)
 
12 Therefore, my beloved…work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; 13 for it is God who is at work in you, enabling you both to will and to work for his good pleasure.
 
14 Do all things without murmuring and arguing, 15 so that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, in which you shine like stars in the world. 16 It is by your holding fast to the word of life that I can boast on the day of Christ that I did not run in vain or labor in vain. 17 But even if I am being poured out as a libation over the sacrifice and the offering of your faith, I am glad and rejoice with all of you— 18 and in the same way you also must be glad and rejoice with me. (Phil 2:12-18)
 
God is with you!
 
Joys and Concerns
      Prayers of the People
      Prayer of Thanksgiving (offerings)
 
Sending Forth
 
Song Ten Thousand Reasons
~Matt Redman Copyright © 2011 Atlas Mountain Songs CCLI License #101999
 
Chorus:
Bless the Lord oh my soul, Oh my soul, Worship His Holy name
Sing like never before, Oh my soul, I'll worship Your Holy name
 
The sun comes up, It's a new day dawning.  It's time to sing Your song again
Whatever may pass, and whatever lies before me, let me be singing when the evening comes
Chorus
 
You're rich in love, and You're slow to anger,
your name is great, and Your heart is kind.
For all Your goodness I will keep on singing –
ten thousand reasons for my heart to find. Chorus
 
And on that day, when my strength is failing,
the end draws near, and my time has come,
Still my soul will sing Your praise unending –
ten thousand years and then forevermore. 
Forevermore!
 
Bless the Lord oh my soul, Oh my soul, Worship His Holy name.
Sing like never before, Oh my soul, I’ll worship Your Holy name.  (Repeat Chorus)
 
I'll worship Your Holy name
I’ll worship Your Holy name
I’ll worship Your Holy name
 
Announcements
  • Personal conversations – a few more dates
  • VBS/Sunday School
  • Community Lunch
  • Pat Botelle will be offering a Bible study on the book of Matthew on Wednesdays starting July 15. There will be an afternoon and evening session. Space will be limited. Details are in the mid-week and will be in the July newsletter.

Benediction

Closing Music