Sunday, October 28, 2018

Loving God, Loving Others - 10-28-2018

Worship on Sunday, October 28 …

 Our series – “Loving God, Loving Others” –  reaches its conclusion on Reformation Sunday as we rejoice in the unmediated love of God!

In our series – “Loving God, Loving Others” – we dive deep in understanding the fullness of self-giving love, even as it expresses itself in the lives of Christian martyrs.
╬ “You have seen him and know him!” Jesus gets exasperated with his disciples.  Philip asks, “Lord, show us the father.”  To which Jesus replies, “What have I been doing this whole time ?!?”  All along Jesus has been inviting people into a closer sense of living presence with God.  “Draw close to God,” says his brother James, “and God will draw close to you!”  One of the principal accomplishments of the Reformation was to dispel the notion that approaching God required an “intercessor,” a go-between to interface between us and the source of life.  God’s love is unmediated; no intercessors required.  Through the Prophet today, God proclaims, “No longer will anyone say ‘Know the Lord,’ for they shall all know me.”

  Below are the Prayer of the Day and Readings.

 Looking forward to celebrating with you on this festival Sunday!

 - Pr. Brad Highum
bhighum@abidinglove.org

 PRAYER OF THE DAY ---------------------
God, we give you thanks for all of the ways you reveal yourself in love and goodness to your children. We seek to know you and to live in vital presence with you always.  Amen.

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

 First Reading:  Jeremiah 31:31-34
31 The days are surely coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah. 32 It will not be like the covenant that I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt — a covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, says the Lord. 33 But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. 34 No longer shall they teach one another, or say to each other, "Know the Lord," for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, says the Lord; for I will forgive their iniquity, and remember their sin no more.

 Psalm 105: 1-10
1 O give thanks to the Lord, call on his name, make known his deeds among the peoples.
2 Sing to him, sing praises to him; tell of all his wonderful works.
3 Glory in his holy name; let the hearts of those who seek the Lord rejoice.
4 Seek the Lord and his strength; seek his presence continually.
5 Remember the wonderful works he has done, his miracles, and the judgments he has uttered,
6 O offspring of his servant Abraham, children of Jacob, his chosen ones.
7 He is the Lord our God; his judgments are in all the earth.
8 He is mindful of his covenant forever, of the word that he commanded, for a thousand generations,
9 the covenant that he made with Abraham, his sworn promise to Isaac,
10 which he confirmed to Jacob as a statute,

 Second Reading:  Romans 3:19-28
19 Now we know that whatever the law says, it speaks to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be silenced, and the whole world may be held accountable to God. 20 For "no human being will be justified in his sight" by deeds prescribed by the law, for through the law comes the knowledge of sin.  21 But now, apart from law, the righteousness of God has been disclosed, and is attested by the law and the prophets, 22 the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction, 23 since all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God; 24 they are now justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, 25 whom God put forward as a sacrifice of atonement by his blood, effective through faith. He did this to show his righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over the sins previously committed; 26 it was to prove at the present time that he himself is righteous and that he justifies the one who has faith in Jesus.  27 Then what becomes of boasting? It is excluded. By what law? By that of works? No, but by the law of faith. 28 For we hold that a person is justified by faith apart from works prescribed by the law.

 Gospel:  John 8:31-36
31 Then Jesus said to the Jews who had believed in him, "If you continue in my word, you are truly my disciples; 32 and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free." 33 They answered him, "We are descendants of Abraham and have never been slaves to anyone. What do you mean by saying, 'You will be made free'?"  34 Jesus answered them, "Very truly, I tell you, everyone who commits sin is a slave to sin. 35 The slave does not have a permanent place in the household; the son has a place there forever. 36 So if the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed.
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