Sunday, July 22, 2018

Be Still - July 22, 2018 Mixed Blessing 25th Anniversary

Worship this Sunday … Mixed Blessings 25th Anniversary
My friends, we have launched into our second Pentecost series, focusing on Sabbath!  As in all things, we look to Jesus for light and guidance in times of confusion, frustration and fear.  In him we receive the invitation to center ourselves in God in the midst of busy, challenging lives.

 Be Still!

 The sheer volume of life is astounding, in every sense of the word:  the quantity of things that invite or demand our attention and the “noise level” that can create.  It is all a part of the active and complex lives we lead.  Yet it has the power to push us off center, to throw us out of balance; many times in the course of a day, sometimes for extended periods of time.  God’s invitation is to “shalom” – peace – even in the most chaotic times and circumstances.  We’re invited to balance and center ourselves in God, come what may.  In the voice of the Psalmist, God says, “Be still and know!”

 Readings and the Prayer of the Day are below.

 AND …  it’s time to celebrate!  We will bless Mixed Blessings in worship for their 25 years of music and worship leadership at Abiding Love! 

 Tom Hokanson says the song list include: 

  1. Love Carrier 
  2. Best of Friends 
  3. All Together 
  4. Salt and Light 
  5. What We've Come Here For 
  6. Seek First 
  7. We Believe in God
  8. Where Do I Go? 
  9. Hope Set High
  10. Let the Flames/Shine Jesus Shine
  11. May the Lord
  12. I Will Call Upon the Lord
  13. We Are Marching




 - Pr. Brad Highum
bhighum@abidinglove.org

 PRAYER OF THE DAY -----------------
Lord of life we look to you.  Help us to know your presence in all weathers, in all the joys and challenges of life.  Help us to hold you in view when life becomes chaotic.  Help to live our lives, centered in your goodness. Amen.

 READINGS -------------------------

 First Reading:  Exodus 20:8-11
8 Remember the sabbath day, and keep it holy. 9 Six days you shall labor and do all your work. 10 But the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God; you shall not do any work — you, your son or your daughter, your male or female slave, your livestock, or the alien resident in your towns. 11 For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but rested the seventh day; therefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day and consecrated it.

 Psalm 46
1 God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.
2 Therefore we will not fear, though the earth should change, though the mountains shake in the heart of the sea;
3 though its waters roar and foam, though the mountains tremble with its tumult.
4 There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, the holy habitation of the Most High.
5 God is in the midst of the city; it shall not be moved; God will help it when the morning dawns.
6 The nations are in an uproar, the kingdoms totter; he utters his voice, the earth melts.
7 The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge.
8 Come, behold the works of the Lord; see what desolations he has brought on the earth.
9 He makes wars cease to the end of the earth; he breaks the bow, and shatters the spear; he burns the shields with fire.
10 "Be still, and know that I am God!  I am exalted among the nations, I am exalted in the earth."
11 The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge.

 Second Reading:  Galatians 5:16-25
16 Live by the Spirit, I say, and do not gratify the desires of the flesh. 17 For what the flesh desires is opposed to the Spirit, and what the Spirit desires is opposed to the flesh; for these are opposed to each other, to prevent you from doing what you want. 18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not subject to the law. 19 Now the works of the flesh are obvious: fornication, impurity, licentiousness, 20 idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, anger, quarrels, dissensions, factions, 21 envy, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these. I am warning you, as I warned you before: those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.  22 By contrast, the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against such things. 24 And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. 25 If we live by the Spirit, let us also be guided by the Spirit.

 Gospel:  Mark 4:35-41
35 On that day, when evening had come, he said to them, "Let us go across to the other side." 36 And leaving the crowd behind, they took him with them in the boat, just as he was. Other boats were with him. 37 A great windstorm arose, and the waves beat into the boat, so that the boat was already being swamped. 38 But he was in the stern, asleep on the cushion; and they woke him up and said to him, "Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?" 39 He woke up and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, "Peace! Be still!" Then the wind ceased, and there was a dead calm. 40 He said to them, "Why are you afraid? Have you still no faith?" 41 And they were filled with great awe and said to one another, "Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?"
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