June 20, 2026

CHIMING OF THE HOUR

PHIL – WELCOME               

RUSS PINE – PRAYER

God our rock and salvation,
you have called us to follow you;
give us the courage to do so.
You have called us to love you above all;
give us confidence to do so.
When the waters of life rage around us,
hear our prayers, steady our feet,
and anchor us in your word,
that we might proclaim your presence
in the midst of turmoil. Amen.

PRELUDE                                         

LARRY “ELDER” DIEHLMAN – CALL TO WORSHIP

Through many dangers, toils, and snares,
we have already come.
Through days of joy and nights of fear,
we’ve traveled this far by faith.
Through life, through death,
Christ walks with us.
We are not alone.
Thanks be to God!
In this promise,
let’s worship God together.

*HYMN No. 246                   “Christ is Alive!”        

1 Christ is alive! Let Christians sing.
The cross stands empty to the sky.
Let streets and homes with praises ring.
Love, drowned in death, shall never die.

2 Christ is alive! No longer bound
to distant years in Palestine,
but saving, healing, here and now,
and touching every place and time.

3 In every insult, rift, and war
where color, scorn, or wealth divide,
Christ suffers still, yet loves the more,
and lives, where even hope has died.

4 Women and men, in age and youth,
can feel the Spirit, hear the call,
and find the way, the life, the truth,
revealed in Jesus, freed for all.

5 Christ is alive, and comes to bring
good news to this and every age,
till earth and sky and ocean ring
with joy, with justice, love, and praise.

DAVE MORGAN – CALL TO CONFESSION

We have died to sin; yet we continue to live in it.
God’s grace abounds so we might move past our sins.
Trusting that promise, let us confess.

DAVE MORGAN – PRAYER OF CONFESSION

Gracious God,
we try to follow your word:
to put others above ourselves,
to remember that we are all bound together as your beloved children,
to seek the common good instead of our own interests.
But it is so easy for our lesser selves to get the better of us.
We succumb to jealousy, vindictiveness,
callousness, and indifference.
In your mercy, send your healing
to those we have hurt,
and to our own misguided souls
so that we may follow you once more.

DAVE MORGAN – Silence is observed

DAVE MORGAN –  *ASSURANCE OF PARDON

We are united in Christ’s life, death, and resurrection:
he has saved us from sin so that we might live in God.
Thanks be to Jesus Christ, who frees us from sin!

*RESPONSE NO. 581                       “Glory Be to the Father”

Glory be to the Father,
and to the Son,
and to the Holy Ghost;
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and ever shall be,
world without end.
Amen, amen.

BOB ROBERTS – *PASSING OF THE PEACE OF CHRIST        

Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts.  To this peace we were called as members of a single body.

The peace of Christ be with you.

And also with you.

Worshippers are invited to briefly “pass the peace” of Christ to those directly seated around them thus keeping our worship time “decent and in order” with a focus upon being part of God’s community.

MUSIC                       

PHIL – THE CHILDREN’S MESSAGE

DAVE PLATT – UNISON PRAYER OF ILLUMINATION

Holy, Holy, Holy One,
guide us by the Spirit of truth
to hear the Word of life you speak,
and to give all glory, honor, and praise
to your threefold name;
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

DAVE PLATT – SCRIPTURE           Matthew 10:24–39                 

24 “A disciple is not above the teacher nor a slave above the master;25 it is enough for the disciple to be like the teacher and the slave like the master. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebul, how much more will they malign those of his household!

26 “So have no fear of them, for nothing is covered up that will not be uncovered and nothing secret that will not become known. 27 What I say to you in the dark, tell in the light, and what you hear whispered, proclaim from the housetops. 28 Do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul; rather, fear the one who can destroy both soul and body in hell.[a] 29 Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. 

30 And even the hairs of your head are all counted. 31 So do not be afraid; you are of more value than many sparrows.

32 “Everyone, therefore, who acknowledges me before others, I also will acknowledge before my Father in heaven, 33 but whoever denies me before others, I also will deny before my Father in heaven.

34 “Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth; I have not come to bring peace but a sword.

35 For I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law,
36 and one’s foes will be members of one’s own household.

37 “Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me, 38 and whoever does not take up the cross and follow me is not worthy of me. 39 Those who find their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it.

Pause…

This is the Word of the Lord.

Thanks be to God!!

PHIL – SERMON      

Who would you be if you ever became fully yourself?

What new possibilities might arise? How would your relationships change?

What fears would disappear? How do you imagine your life would be different?

I’m not talking about a selfish attitude toward others and the world. I am talking about living into our better and truer selves, being real and authentic, experiencing wholeness and integrity within ourselves; and then taking all of that, all that we are and all that we have, and offering it to our relationships, to the world, to Christ.

Who would you be if you ever became fully yourself? I think that’s the question that lies beneath today’s gospel (Matthew 10:24-39) and I think it points to something we all long for and struggle with. Growing up or growing into our identity.

Do you remember what it was like growing up: the questions, the struggles, the fears, the hopes, the dreams, the failures and doubts, the relationships? I remember it as clearly as if it was yesterday. Do you know why? Because it was yesterday and it is today. Growing up isn’t about only kids. It’s a life long process and growing up at any age, at every age, is just hard work. I think that’s what Jesus is getting at in today’s gospel.

We often hear the gospel as a prescribed set of beliefs, teachings, and behaviors, but what if there is more to the gospel, more to life, and more to you and me than that? What if the gospel is a path toward becoming more fully ourselves and Jesus is a symbol of what that fullness looks like?

That path, however, is not necessarily easy or comfortable. Today’s gospel is one of Jesus’ hard sayings and we must be careful not to literalize it. By that I do not mean that we soften it, spiritualize it, or manipulate it in an attempt to make it more acceptable and palatable. I mean that we take it seriously, listen deeply, and open ourselves to the work it sets before us. That work is the work of separation. Jesus puts it like this:

“Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth; I have not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; and one’s foes will be members of one’s own household.” (Matthew 10:34-36)

The sword Jesus brings is the sword of separation. It is neither a rejection of family and relationships nor is it destructive of life. Rather, Jesus’ sword of separation is generative of life and relationships. It unbinds, frees, and brings about the separateness necessary for growing up and finding life. “Those who find their life will lose it,” Jesus says, “and those who lose their life for my sake” – those who separate from their old life and ways – “will find it” (Matthew 10:39).

Separation is necessary for the creation of life and for that life to grow; whether it is physical, emotional, or spiritual. It is at the heart of our growing up and becoming more fully ourselves. Let me give you a few examples of what I am talking about.

  • As told in Genesis 1, the act of creation is also an act of separation. In the beginning God separates the light from the darkness and later, the day from the night.
  • Biologists tell us that reproduction and growth are processes of cells dividing and separating.
  • The day you were born you separated from your mother’s womb, a first and necessary step in becoming more fully yourself.
  • How old were you when you realized that at least some of your parents’ ideas, beliefs, and ways were not your own? That was about your separation and growing up.
  • Do you remember what adolescence was like? Yours? Your child’s? The struggles and conflicts, the restlessness, and the changes were a form of separation and another step in growing up.
  • Moving out of your parents’ home to begin work or to go to school is a separation by which you sought to become more fully yourself.
  • The question “Will you marry me?” is an invitation to separate and begin a new life.
  • The significant transitions in our lives – birth, marriage, divorce, a new job, retirement, and even death – are about the separation that takes us to a new life, even when painful or unwanted.

Matthew got up and left his tax booth in order to follow Jesus (Matthew 9:9). James and John separated from their father, their boat, and nets to become followers of Jesus (Matthew 4:21-22; Mark 1:19).Two disciples left John the Baptist and followed Jesus (John 1:35-37). They all chose a path of becoming more fully themselves. That’s what discipleship is about.

Jesus himself chose separation. When he was twelve years old he separated himself from Mary and Joseph to stay behind and remain in his Father’s house. At the end of that story Luke comments, “And Jesus increased in wisdom and years, and in divine and human favor” (Luke 2:52).

Separateness is the freedom to think our own thoughts, hear our own voices, discern our own concerns, establish our own values, and chart our own life’s path. As Christians we have chosen to do that in relationship with Christ. It means discovering for ourselves our “lacks and limitations,” our strengths and gifts, our hopes and dreams, our questions and our answers. Separateness, says Sister Joan Chittister, a Catholic nun, is “the willingness to live inside ourselves rather than to live off the thoughts and words and chaos and clamor around us” and it “heightens our very awareness of being alive (Chittister, 122). Separation opens us to the “quiet call of the God-ness within us” and it is a “moment of maturation”.

So let me ask you again. Who would you be if you ever became fully yourself, if you lived into God’s dream for you and your life?

From whom or what do you need to separate, not as a rejection of them but as a reclaiming of yourself? Is it a particular person, a voice or experience from the past, a fear? What do you need to let go of, to separate from, in order to grow up and come alive? For most of us at some level this is about parental and authority figures, those, as Jesus points out in today’s gospel, who are closest to us, “members of one’s own household” (Matthew 10:36). But it could also be about institutions, a political party, our country, even the Church.

Jesus is not asking us to abandon our relationships but to reorient our lives, to become more fully ourselves, and to find our life and identity in him. And that raises a question for me.

Might the sword of separation need to be applied to our relationship with God and Jesus? If separation is the beginning of growth and the basis of new life, then the answer has to be yes. Yes, separation from God and Jesus is necessary to our spiritual life and growth. Again, this is not about rejection but about creating the freedom and space to allow a new understanding, a new relationship, a new God-image to arise within us.

Chances are you’ve already experienced aspects of this separation. Is your understanding of who God or Jesus is today the same as it was last year, five years ago, fifteen, twenty-five? Do you read and understand the Bible today the same way you did when you were a child? Do you still pray the same way you did a few years ago or when you were a child? Probably not. You’ve grown and changed. You separated from previous beliefs, understandings, and practices to claim new ones that reflect who you are today. And if your answer is, “Yes, it is the same today as it was back then,” then maybe there’s a problem. Why has it not changed? What’s stunting your growth? From what do you need to separate?

If your relationship with God in Christ isn’t deepening, changing, and growing, maybe a separation is in order. If your relationship with others isn’t changing and growing, expanding, and giving life, maybe a separation is in order. If you feel stuck, repeating the same behaviors and patterns, the sword of Christ just might be the antidote. Christ’s sword of separation gives new life. It’s what allows us to ask and answer, and re-ask and re-answer the question, “Who would I be if I ever became fully myself?”

In Judaism a story is told of Rabbi Zusha, who lay crying on his deathbed. His students asked him, “Rebbe, why are you so sad? After all the mitzvah and good deeds, you have done, you will surely get a great reward in heaven!” “I’m afraid!” said Zusha. “Because when I get to heaven, I know God’s not going to ask me ‘Zusha, why weren’t you more like Moses?’ or ‘Why weren’t you more like King David?’ I’m afraid that God will say, ‘Zusha, why weren’t you more like Zusha?’ And then what will I say?!”

What about you and me? What will we say? What separation do you need today to take a next step into becoming more fully yourself?

BEN OEHLER – *AFFIRMATION OF FAITH                               

The Apostles’ Creed  

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 No. 39           “Great Is Thy Faithfulness”

1 *Great is thy faithfulness, O God my Father;
there is no shadow of turning with thee.
Thou changest not; thy compassions they fail not. 
As thou hast been thou forever wilt be.

Refrain:
Great is thy faithfulness!
Great is thy faithfulness!
Morning by morning, new mercies I see.
All I have needed thy hand hath provided.
Great is thy faithfulness, Lord unto me!

2 Summer and winter, and springtime and harvest,
sun, moon, and stars in their courses above
join with all nature in manifold witness
to thy great faithfulness, mercy, and love.
(Refrain)

Great is thy faithfulness!
Great is thy faithfulness!
Morning by morning, new mercies I see.
All I have needed thy hand hath provided.
Great is thy faithfulness, Lord unto me!

3 Pardon for sin and a peace that endureth,
thine own dear presence to cheer and to guide,
strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow:
blessings all mine, with ten thousand beside!
(Refrain)

Great is thy faithfulness!
Great is thy faithfulness!
Morning by morning, new mercies I see.
All I have needed thy hand hath provided.
Great is thy faithfulness, Lord unto me!

MATT GRIMES – THE PASTORAL PRAYER & THE LORD’S PRAYER

God, Creator of all, we come before you, lamenting the sickness in our lives and in the world. We pray for your healing, praying, “God of power, heal us now.”

God, we pray for the sicknesses that plague our world: war, violence, hatred and greed. These have devastated your creation, and created systems of oppression and domination. Your beloved children have become collateral damage. The full extent of grief and devastation is known only to you, but we pray that you open us in love and solidarity as we seek a way forward. God of power, heal us now. (Pause)

God, we pray for the many forms of sickness that we encounter. We pray for those whose pain is ignored and dismissed, for those who wait to seek treatment because it is not accessible, or too expensive. We pray for all who have become dependent on fleeting relief from pain and suffering, only to find themselves in the agony of addiction. We pray for loved ones who are struggling to discern the best way to support them. We pray for all who wake up each day to the realities of mental illness, for care and compassion, and for effective treatments. We pray for those who are fighting illness and diseases known and unknown, for those awaiting medical interventions, those recovering from them, and all who. are facing terminal illness. God of power, heal us now. (Pause)

God, we pray for the difficult circumstances in our lives. We pray for families and loved ones who are separated, whether by their choice or something beyond their control. We pray for those facing financial situations that are untenable, that cause more anxiety and suffering. We pray for all who are seeking employment, and for those working jobs that place a greater burden on their bodies or spirits. May all find meaningful work that meets their needs.

We pray for those facing difficult decisions. We pray for the many who are lonely, even when surrounded by others. We pray for those facing heartbreak, or insurmountable odds. We pray for those who have lost hope or faith, knowing that they are still covered by your grace and mercy. God of power, heal us now. (Pause)

Entrusting them all to your loving care, renew our faith, and strengthen us to love and serve you. All of this we ask in the name of Jesus, who taught us to pray, saying, “Our Father…”.

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. Forgive us our debts, as we have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.  For thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.

MILT – PASSING OF FELLOWSHIP PADS & ANNOUNCEMENTS

BERNIE CARLSON – TITHES & OFFERINGS

In gratitude for God’s grace and love, we offer gifts that have been entrusted to us, trusting in God’s faithful love and provision. Let us joyfully offer the gifts of our lives!

OFFERTORY ANTHEM                       

*RESPONSE N0. 606            “Praise God, from Whom All Blessings Come”

Praise God, from whom all blessings flow;
praise him, all creatures here below;
praise him above, ye heavenly host;
praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Amen.

BERNIE CARLSON – *PRAYER OF THANKSGIVING

Holy God, we offer our gifts today and every day, trusting in your promises to heal, reconcile and bring justice and peace. May all that we offer be transformed into signs of your love and acts of your mercy. We ask this in Jesus’ name. Amen.

*HYMN No. 239                    “Good Christians All, Rejoice and Sing!”

1 Good Christians all, rejoice and sing!
Now is the triumph of our King!
To all the world glad news we bring:
Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia!

2 The Lord of life is risen today!
Death’s mighty stone is rolled away. 
Let all the earth rejoice and say:
Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia!

3 Praise we in songs of victory
that love, that life which cannot die,
and sing with hearts uplifted high:
Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia!

4 Your name we bless, O risen Lord, 
and sing today with one accord
the life laid down, the life restored:
Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia!

PHIL – *BENEDICTION

Go live as resurrection people who are fully alive now.  

Don’t cling to what will pass away, but joyfully inhabit the life God has given.

Be fearless and show the world a life not driven by consumption or the chase for immortality, but live each day with generosity, justice, and compassion.

May Christ’s risen light shine through you here and now as you feed the hungry, care for the ailing, forgive your enemies, and advocate for the vulnerable. Let all you do be done in love. May your life be a blessing, a witness that resurrection is not distant, but already alive within and among us.

*POSTLUDE