October 27, 2024

Twenty-third Sunday after Pentecost

10:00am

 

CHIMING OF THE HOUR

 

WELCOME

 

OPENING PRAYER             -Karen Criscillo

My God, my Father and my Savior, you have been pleased to preserve me by your grace through the night and you have brought me to this new day. Grant that I may use it entirely in your service, that I may think, say, and do nothing but to please you and to obey your holy will. May all my actions be to the glory of your name and to the service of others. And just as you cause the sun to shine on the world to give physical light, let your Holy Spirit illumine my mind to guide me in the way of righteousness. In everything I do, let my goal and intention always be to walk reverently and to honor and serve you, relying only on your blessing for my well-being, and undertaking only what is pleasing to you. Amen.

 

PRELUDE                 “Autumn Song”                   David Callender

 

CALL TO WORSHIP           -Karen Criscillo

Our help is in the name of the Lord, who made heaven and earth.

Amen.

God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.

Therefore, we will not fear, though the earth should change, though the mountains shake in the heart of the sea,

Though its waters roar and foam, though the mountains tremble with its tumult.

God is in the midst of the city; it shall not be moved; God will help it when the morning dawns.

“Be still, and know that I am God! I am exalted among the nations; I am exalted in the earth.”

The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge

Let us worship the living God!

 

*HYMN No. 725                   “O Jesus, I Have Promised”
1 O Jesus, I have promised
to serve you to the end;
be now and always near me,
my Master and my friend;
I shall not fear the battle
if you are by my side,
nor wander from the pathway
if you will be my guide.

2 O let me feel you near me!
The world is ever near:
I see the sights that dazzle;
the tempting sounds I hear.
My foes are ever near me,
around me and within;
but, Jesus, draw still nearer
and shield my soul from sin.

3 O let me hear you speaking
in accents clear and still,
above the storms of passion,
the murmurs of self-will;
O speak to reassure me,
to hasten or control;
O speak, and make me listen,
true guardian of my soul.

4 O Jesus, you have promised
to all who follow you
that where you are in glory
your servant shall be too.
And, Jesus, I have promised
to serve you to the end;
now give me grace to follow,
my Master and my friend.

 

*CALL TO CONFESSION               -Wendy Hill

As we worship the living God, we remember all those who have walked this life of faith before us. They remind us not only of our triumphs, but also of our failures to be the people God has called and created us to be. With confidence that God is the alpha and the omega, the beginning and the end, let us confess our sins:

 

*PRAYER FOR CONFESSION       -Wendy Hill

Behold, Lord, an empty vessel that needs to be filled.
My Lord, fill it.
I am weak in the faith; strengthen me.
I am cold in love; warm me and make me fervent, that my love may go out to my neighbor.

I do not have a strong and firm faith; at times I doubt and am unable to trust you altogether.
O Lord, help me.
Strengthen my faith and trust in you.

In you I have sealed the treasure of all I have.
I am poor; you are rich and came to be merciful to the poor.
I am a sinner; you are upright.
With me, there is an abundance of sin; in you is the fullness of righteousness.
Therefore, I will remain with you, of whom I can receive, but to whom I may not give. Amen.

 

*SILENT PRAYER FOR CONFESSION    -Wendy Hill

 

*ASSURANCE OF PARDON                      -Wendy Hill

Let us never forget you, O Lord, nor your goodness. Let the remembrance of your mercy be always engraved on our minds.

Hear and believe this good news! In Jesus Christ, we are forgiven!

 

*RESPONSE No. 1                “Holy, holy, holy! Lord God Almighty!”

4 Holy, holy, holy! Lord God Almighty!
All thy works shall praise thy name, in earth and sky and sea.
Holy, holy, holy! merciful and mighty!
God in three persons, blessed Trinity!

 

*PASSING OF THE PEACE OF CHRIST              -Wendy Hill

Since God has forgiven us in Christ, let us forgive one another.

May the peace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.

And also with you.

 

ANTHEM                  “Name of All Majesty”                   Tom Fettke

 

CHILDREN’S MESSAGE

 

UNISON PRAYER OF ILLUMINATION              -Linda Blackwell

Please join me in the unison prayer…

Almighty, eternal, and merciful God, whose Word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path, open and illuminate our minds that we may truly understand your Word and that our life may be conformed to what we have rightly understood, that in all our ways we may be pleasing to you, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

 

SCRIPTURE  Mark 10:46-52                                  -Linda Blackwell

⁴⁶They came to Jericho. As he and his disciples and a large crowd were leaving Jericho, Bartimaeus son of Timaeus, a blind beggar, was sitting by the roadside. ⁴⁷When he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to shout out and say, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” ⁴⁸Many sternly ordered him to be quiet, but he cried out even more loudly, “Son of David, have mercy on me!” ⁴⁹Jesus stood still and said, “Call him here.” And they called the blind man, saying to him, “Take heart; get up, he is calling you.” ⁵⁰So throwing off his cloak, he sprang up and came to Jesus. ⁵¹Then Jesus said to him, “What do you want me to do for you?” The blind man said to him, “My teacher, let me see again.” ⁵²Jesus said to him, “Go; your faith has made you well.” Immediately he regained his sight and followed him on the way.

 

Pause…

 

This is the Word of the Lord.

Thanks be to God!!

 

SERMON       “Followed Him on the Way”

No doubt you have seen one of the many homeless people at Lot 323 who either carry a backpack with all their possessions in it or in downtown Philadelphia pushing an old grocery cart that is piled high with clothes, blankets, plastic and the likes. They move from place to place so they don’t get in trouble for trespassing for one thing and they make their way to fresh places to ask passersby for spare change or something to eat. Take a moment and picture one of these people you have recently passed. What did you think when you saw him or her? Did you feel pity? Perhaps you thought to yourself, “If they spent the amount of time walking the streets looking for a job instead, they wouldn’t be in this situation.” Then again, as you walk by him or her on the street and get a whiff of their odor, you might think, “I can’t stand being near this person! Oh, the smell; why don’t you take a bath?”, forgetting at that moment that they are homeless and wouldn’t smell so ripe if they had a safe place to stay to begin with.

This morning’s text introduces us to a man who was looked upon in Jesus’ day in similar ways many in our culture look at the homeless in our communities. He had a disability which didn’t allow him to work. He had no sense of how he looked and came across to others. He carried his earthly possessions with him for fear others would steal them if he left them someplace.

This section of the Story in Mark’s gospel commonly known as the story of blind Bartimaeus began all the way back in Mark 8:22 where we were first introduced to another blind man in the village of Bethsaida. In between these two stories of blind men is a series of teaching and events that have highlighted who Jesus was and what his purpose was supposed to accomplish. If you want to know Jesus’ true identity, you read the stories sandwiched between these two blind men healing stories.

Jesus has made it pretty clear what was about to take place and what he came to do.  Three times he tells his disciples, “The Son of Man must undergo great suffering, and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed, and after three days, rise again.” The first time Jesus reveals his identity and purpose, he gets rebuked by Peter. The second time he reveals his identity and purpose, the disciples immediately began bickering amongst themselves as to which one of the Twelve was the greatest disciple.  The third time Jesus reveals his identity and purpose, the Zebedee brothers began talking about which one of them was going to be Jesus’ right-hand man when Jesus took power from the Romans. In each and every instance, those who could plainly see and hear all Jesus did and was doing were totally clueless as to who Jesus was. As New Testament scholar and Episcopal priest, Andrew K. Adam writes, “Mark deploys these healing stories to underline the contrast between outsiders who see Jesus and insiders who remain blind to his true identity.” This brings us to our text this morning offered my Linda Blackwell

 

Prayer of Illumination

Almighty, eternal, and merciful God, whose Word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path, open and illuminate our minds that we may truly understand your Word and that our life may be conformed to what we have rightly understood, that in all our ways we may be pleasing to you, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

 

Mark 10:46-52

⁴⁶ They came to Jericho. As he and his disciples and a large crowd were leaving Jericho, Bartimaeus son of Timaeus, a blind beggar, was sitting by the roadside. ⁴⁷ When he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to shout out and say, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” ⁴⁸ Many sternly ordered him to be quiet, but he cried out even more loudly, “Son of David, have mercy on me!” ⁴⁹ Jesus stood still and said, “Call him here.” And they called the blind man, saying to him, “Take heart; get up, he is calling you.” ⁵⁰ So throwing off his cloak, he sprang up and came to Jesus. ⁵¹ Then Jesus said to him, “What do you want me to do for you?” The blind man said to him, “Rabbouni, let me see again.” ⁵² Jesus said to him, “Go; your faith has made you well.” Immediately he regained his sight and followed him on the way.

 

There are so many rich subtleties in our Story today. One of the things I encourage those studying the Bible is that when a writer mentions a geographical location or the name of a town or city, pause and ask yourself, “Why?” In our instance, the first words in our text provide a valuable clue. “They came to Jericho.”

If you were Jewish and heard the city of Jericho, what comes to mind? You would remember that Jericho was the first city the Israelites came to as they entered into the Promised Land after Moses died. It was their first military triumph as they began to live into a new phase in their relationship with the Lord. And who led the Israelites over the Jordan river to capture the city of Jericho? God’s appointed leader, Joshua. And who is leading the people in Jericho up to Jerusalem in our Story today?  Jesus, whose name in Hebrew is, “Joshua.” Mark is trying to get our attention, my friends. Can you and I make out what is going on in the Story? Do we see it any better than those accompanying Jesus that day centuries ago?

The disciples have been travelling with Jesus three years now and we have wonder if they simply became so overly familiar with Jesus that they missed his distinctiveness and took for granted all they heard, saw, and experienced? Did the disciples get to the point in their relationship with Jesus that would say to others, “Oh, that? Jesus says that kind of stuff all the time. Just hold on a bit and watch what he does with a little bit of water, a few fish and a loaf of bread!” It did, after all, take a blind man in Mark’s Story, to show us what it means to really see Jesus and learn his identity.

Many of us have followed Jesus a long time as well and today’s lesson is a grand reminder to each of us to ask ourselves whether we have become a tad bit too familiar in our thinking and living with Jesus, like the disciples. I say that because it would seem to me that with all the self-proclaimed Christians in Fort Lauderdale and south Florida that we would be making a bigger impact in our community and world if we really took Jesus and his identity more seriously. Maybe Christians today need to stop, close our eyes, and re-envision and restore who this Joshua truly is in the eyes of God. Perhaps like Bartimaeus, we need to become blind in order to really see Jesus again.

Perhaps we need to become blind to the notion that what we have and consume is a result of our efforts and remind ourselves all we have is a gift from the hand of God.

Perhaps we need to become blind to our own sense of self-righteousness and learn humility and the downward way.

Perhaps we need become blind in order to unwrap the flag from around Jesus and let his own sense of ethics and justice become the norm as opposed to what will benefit me.

Perhaps we need to become blind in order that we can see our need to unplug and go analog and actually sit down and have thoughtful conversations with those in our families, friends and co-workers about Jesus and spiritual things.

I love Bartimaeus. He got it. When he heard Jesus’ voice, he bolted up and cried out, “Son of David, have mercy upon me!” Bartimaeus is the only one in Mark’s gospel who calls Jesus, Son of David. It’s a royal title. It’s the title of the predicted coming Messiah. He saw who Jesus really was.  He knew Jesus’ identity while his disciples argued about who will be the greatest when Jesus comes into his own. When Bartimaeus called out to Jesus, those around him tried to shut him up and rebuked him. Bartimaeus called even louder to make sure Jesus could hear his profession of faith; we are to remember that’s what calling Jesus the “Son of David” is; it’s a statement that God is saving his beloved through Jesus.

The quiet punchline in our Story this morning is that when Jesus calls Bartimaeus forward, Mark makes sure we know, “That throwing off his cloak, he sprang up and came to Jesus.” Remember earlier when I mentioned that Bartimaeus was looked upon as we look upon the broken and lost ones being homeless and surviving on the scraps from others? The punchline is that his cloak was most likely the only thing he owned. His cloak sheltered him from the weather. It provided warmth while he slept. And when Jesus calls, he casts off his only possession in order fully follow Jesus. He threw everything behind to follow Jesus and got his sight back. Wow.

And we are just simply asking folks to fill out an estimate of giving card for next year.  Beloved, what are you willing to let go to follow Jesus? Amen.

 

Commentary and Liturgy from the Book of Common Worship (PCUSA), “Call to Worship” Website, PCUSA Book of Confession, The New Interpreter’s Commentary, Matt Rich, and Patrick H. Wrisley.  Protestant churches celebrate the Reformation annually on October 31, the anniversary of Martin Luther nailing his 95 Theses on the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg, Germany. In honor of the celebration, this week’s liturgy draws on prayers and liturgy from Protestant Reformers.

 

*AFFIRMATION OF FAITH          The Apostle’s Creed          -David Platt

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. 300                   “We Are One in the Spirit”

1 We are one in the Spirit; we are one in the Lord;
we are one in the Spirit; we are one in the Lord,
and we pray that all unity may one day be restored:

Refrain:
And they’ll know we are Christians by our love,
by our love;
yes, they’ll know we are Christians by our love.

2 We will walk with each other; we will walk hand in hand;
we will walk with each other; we will walk hand in hand,
and together we’ll spread the news that God is in our land: (Refrain)

 

Refrain:
And they’ll know we are Christians by our love,
by our love;
yes, they’ll know we are Christians by our love.

3 We will work with each other; we will work side by side;
we will work with each other; we will work side by side,
and we’ll guard human dignity and save human pride: (Refrain)

Refrain:
And they’ll know we are Christians by our love,
by our love;
yes, they’ll know we are Christians by our love.

4 All praise to the Father, from whom all things come,
and all praise to Christ Jesus, God’s only Son,
and all praise to the Spirit, who makes us one: (Refrain)

 

Refrain:
And they’ll know we are Christians by our love,
by our love;
yes, they’ll know we are Christians by our love.

THE PRAYERS OF THE PEOPLE & THE LORD’S PRAYER                -Dean Sommers

Honor and praise be to you, O Lord our God, for all the tender mercies you have again given to us through another week. Continual thanks be to you for creating us in your own likeness; for redeeming us by the precious blood of your dear Son when we were lost; and for sanctifying us with the Holy Spirit.

 

For your help and support with our needs; your protection in the many dangers of body and soul; your comfort in our sorrows; and for sparing us in life, and giving us so long a time to repent.

 

O God of all power, you have called from death the great Shepherd of the sheep, our Lord Jesus: Comfort and defend the flock which you have redeemed; increase the number of true pastors; relieve and enlighten the heart of the weak; ease the pains of the afflicted, and especially of those who suffer for their witness to the truth.

 

Give us an increase of hope and love, together with a careful keeping of all your commandments, that no hardness of heart, no hypocrisy, no lust of the eyes, nor any methods of the world, may draw us away from obedience to you. And, since we now live in these most perilous times, let your providence defend us against all violence and harm.

 

We pray now that you would grant this request — that you would never allow us to grow so callous as to forget your many blessings, but rather, imprint and fix them firmly in our hearts, that we may grow and increase daily, more and more, in true faith, even as we wait for the coming of your kingdom as we pray as Jesus taught us, “Our Father…”.

 

The Lord’s Prayer

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.

 

ANNOUNCEMENTS

 

STEWARDSHIP MINUTE FOR MISSION                      Barbara Allgood

 

TITHES & OFFERINGS                  -Bernie Carlson

Out of gratitude for all that God has provided for us and with hope for a future that continues to unfold toward God’s promised end, we bring our tithes and offerings for God’s work among us in this time and place.

 

OFFERTORY

 

*RESPONSE N0. 609                      “Praise God, from Whom All Blessings Flow”

Praise God, from whom all blessings flow.
Praise God, all creatures high and low.
Alleluia, alleluia!
Praise God, in Jesus fully known:
Creator, Word, and Spirit one.
Alleluia, alleluia!
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia!

 

*PRAYER OF DEDICATION         -Bernie Carlson

O Lord, come to me and use my bread, silver and gold. How very well they are spent if I spend them in your service. Amen.

 

*HYMN No. 321                    “The Church’s One Foundation”

1 The church’s one foundation
is Jesus Christ her Lord.
She is his new creation
by water and the word.
From heaven he came and sought her
to be his holy bride.
With his own blood he bought her,
and for her life he died.

2 Elect from every nation,
yet one o’er all the earth,
her charter of salvation:
one Lord, one faith, one birth.
One holy name she blesses,
partakes one holy food,
and to one hope she presses,
with every grace endued.

3 Though with a scornful wonder
this world sees her oppressed,
by schisms rent asunder,
by heresies distressed,
yet saints their watch are keeping;
their cry goes up: “How long?”
And soon the night of weeping
shall be the morn of song.

4 Mid toil and tribulation,
and tumult of her war,
she waits the consummation
of peace forevermore:
till with the vision glorious
her longing eyes are blest,
and the great church victorious
shall be the church at rest.

5 Yet she on earth has union
with God, the Three in One,
and mystic sweet communion
with those whose rest is won:
O happy ones and holy!
Lord, give us grace that we,
like them, the meek and lowly,
may live eternally.

 

*BENEDICTION

The Lord bless you, and keep you;
The Lord make his face to shine upon you, and be gracious to you;

The Lord lift up his countenance, and give you peace. Amen.