You are encouraged to read today’s prayers, scripture, and sermon aloud, and to sing along with the praise music. Announcements of upcoming events can be found at the very end of this online service.
SUNDAY, JANUARY 31st, 2010
OPENING PRAYER
Almighty God, your presence and your holiness aren’t limited to church buildings or saintly persons, to spectacular mountains or mountain-top experiences. Your presence is often discerned in simple everyday places like our homes, our places of work, and even here, sitting in front of a computer screen. Make us aware of your loving presence even now … fill us with your grace … grow us that we might bloom where we’re planted, and so bring glory to your name. Amen.
PRAISE MUSIC
“Desert Song”
“Mighty to Save” (Spanish)
PRAYER REQUESTS
You may enter your prayer requests directly on this website, and they will be compiled and prayed over by our Spirit Warriors Intercessory Prayer team. Link: http://www.claytonccumc.org/prayer
INTERCESSORY PRAYER / THE LORD’S PRAYER
We thank you today O God, that even when we can’t be in your House, we can still praise you and thank you and approach you in prayer. Bless all those who must travel on slippery roads, that they might be kept safe from harm.
Now, Lord, aloud or in the silence of our hearts, we lift up those situations and persons who need your help at this time …
Use us as you will, Lord, to bear your love, your hope, and your blessing to those in need.
Lord, we pray for all nations, that there may be an end to all injustice, poverty, persecution, and especially for a just and lasting peace between nations at war. We pray especially for our brothers and sisters in Haiti, that they might receive all that they need to rebuild their broken lives. Comfort those who have lost loved ones, homes, jobs.
Most loving God, source of all grace, light, and peace, restore to all people the joy and health of Your salvation; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives with you and the Holy Spirit, One God, now and evermore, who taught us to say together:
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;
and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us;
and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever and ever. Amen
Spanish Version
Padre nuestro que Estás en los cielos: santificado sea tu nombre,
venga tu reino, sea hecha tu voluntad, como en el cielo Así también en la tierra.
El pan nuestro de cada Día, Dánoslo hoy.
Perdónanos nuestras deudas, como también nosotros perdonamos a nuestros deudores.
Y no nos metas en Tentación, mas Líbranos del mal.
Porque tuyo es el reino, el poder y la gloria por todos los siglos. Amén.
OFFERING
We regret that we can’t offer you the opportunity to give online.
Is this something you would like to be able to do?
Please give your feedback to the Pastor or the Finance Committee.
As you’ve heard, our church’s financial situation is precarious, so if you were planning to make a donation to CCUMC this week, please consider mailing it to the church office as soon as possible, or dropping it off by the church when the roads are clear, rather than waiting until next week. Thank you.
Christ Community United Methodist Church
1082 Amelia Church Road
Clayton, NC 27520
PRAISE MUSIC
“The Stand”
“Solo Cristo” (Spanish)
SCRIPTURE AND SERMON
Soul On Ice
Scripture: Romans 10:1-13 (NRSV)
1 Brothers and sisters, my heart's desire and prayer to God for them is that they may be saved.
2 I can testify that they have a zeal for God, but it is not enlightened.
3 For, being ignorant of the righteousness that comes from God, and seeking to establish their own, they have not submitted to God's righteousness.
4 For Christ is the end of the law so that there may be righteousness for everyone who believes.
5 Moses writes concerning the righteousness that comes from the law, that "the person who does these things will live by them."
6 But the righteousness that comes from faith says, "Do not say in your heart, "Who will ascend into heaven?' " (that is, to bring Christ down)
7 "or "Who will descend into the abyss?' " (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead).
8 But what does it say? "The word is near you, on your lips and in your heart" (that is, the word of faith that we proclaim);
9 because if you confess with your lips that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.
10 For one believes with the heart and so is justified, and one confesses with the mouth and so is saved.
11 The scripture says, "No one who believes in him will be put to shame."
12 For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; the same Lord is Lord of all and is generous to all who call on him.
13 For, "Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved."
In less than two weeks, the Winter Olympic Games will begin in Vancouver, Canada. I’ve always loved the Winter games, even though I’m a novice skier and a mediocre skater. There have been some great stories from the Olympics through the years. One athlete I’ll always remember is tiny Tara Lipinski, who won the gold medal for figure skating in 1998, at the age of 15. To this day, she remains the youngest individual gold medalist in the history of the Olympic Winter Games.
What impressed me the most about Tara was her facial expression while she skated. She provided a stark contrast to many of the other skaters. In the 1998 ice dancing competition, for example, there was a Russian couple who skated beautifully, with smiles on their faces the whole time they performed. As soon as they finished, however, the smiles came off and were replaced by looks of anxiety and worry. Had they scored enough points to win a medal?
That’s what they really cared about. The smiles were fake, meant to trick us all into believing that they were enjoying themselves. Anyone with eyes could see that they weren’t having a good time at all. They were too busy worrying about the reward they hoped to receive for their work. Their minds and bodies were completely focused, but their hearts just weren’t in it.
Tara Lipinski was completely different. She was having fun! When she completed a particularly difficult jump near the end of her routine, you could tell that she was as delighted as the crowd. From the look on her face, you’d have thought she’d never done it before, but of course she had. Her heart was singing, and you could see the melody on her face.
Maybe she was faking, like those Russian ice dancers, but I doubt it. In her interviews, she came across as someone caught up in something huge, something marvelous. She never acted as though she deserved to win because of her years of hard work. On the contrary, she seemed surprised, despite the fact that she came in as reigning world champion. She reminded me of a child who’s opened a package on Christmas morning and discovered the most wonderful and unexpected gift inside.
As I look forward to the upcoming games, and remember Tara, my thoughts turn to another Olympic skater from years past. Tonya Harding was the second best skater on the American team prior to the 1994 Olympics in Norway. The top skater, Nancy Kerrigan, was favored to win the gold medal. Then a few weeks before the Olympics, a man assaulted Kerrigan after a practice session. When the man was arrested, he turned out to be an acquaintance of Tonya Harding.
Nancy Kerrigan recovered, and both she and Tonya Harding competed in the Olympics. Later Harding was indicted for being part of a conspiracy to cripple Nancy Kerrigan. Apparently Tonya wanted to win the gold medal and get the millions in endorsements, and was willing to do anything to achieve that objective. One of the saddest things about the episode is that most people have forgotten that Tonya was actually a very good skater, capable of winning an Olympic medal without cheating.
What a contrast between Tara Lipinski and Tonya Harding! Tara skated for the sheer joy of skating. She loved it. The gold medal was nice, and the endorsement money was icing on the cake, but she would have skated even if there had been no reward. Tonya, on the other hand, was a fine athlete who chose skating as a way to make a fortune. It was the money that mattered; the skating was incidental.
I doubt the Apostle Paul was familiar with ice skating, but he would have recognized types like Tara and Tonya. You see, there have always been spiritual athletes.
In Paul’s day, many of his fellow Jews lived as though they could earn their salvation by performing works of the Law. To obey the Law was to keep the covenant God had made with Israel at Sinai and to be part of the faithful remnant that would be saved. To disobey the Law was to be a covenant-breaker and an outcast. You needed to keep score to see how you were doing.
I’m sure many of those Law-abiding Jews would have told you that their obedience was based on their faith in the God of Israel, but they didn’t live like it. They kept the letter of the Law, but not its spirit. They went through the motions, but their hearts weren’t in it. As Paul said earlier in chapter 10 of Romans, “I can testify that they have a zeal for God, but it is not enlightened. For being ignorant of the righteousness that comes from God, and seeking to establish their own, they have not submitted to God’s righteousness.”
Paul himself had been a zealous Law-keeper, a Hebrew of the Hebrews. Then the risen Christ called his name on the road to Damascus, and he came to understand that salvation is a gift given, not a reward earned.
Many Jews worked hard to keep the Law, not because obedience filled their hearts with joy, not because obedience was an expression of trust in God, but because they wanted the spiritual equivalent of $10 million in endorsements. They were spiritual Tonyas. A gold medal in obedience was all that mattered. Faith was incidental.
I wonder if there are any spiritual athletes like that around anymore. Do we worship and serve as a grateful response to God’s grace? Or do we think of those things as the required elements of a routine that wins us the gold medal of heaven? Do we confess that Jesus is Lord because our hearts are singing with trust and joy? Or do we mouth the words, all the while not really trusting God to be stronger than death?
Are we Taras? or Tonyas?
Why do some people have faith while others don’t? I don’t know. I can’t tell you how to trust, how to believe in your heart. But I think Paul points us in the right direction: “No one who believes in him will be put to shame." For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; the same Lord is Lord of all and is generous to all who call on him. For, "Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved."
When my sons were small, they sometimes called out for me --- when they woke up in the middle of the night … or when they fell down and got hurt --- they called for me. Sometimes, they still call me just because they’re happy. I know that as they get older, those times will become fewer and fewer.
I’m pushing fifty, all grown up, very self-sufficient. But sometimes I wake up afraid, too. Sometimes life knocks me down. Times are tough right now, and have been for a few years. But I keep on keeping on. After all, real men aren’t afraid of the dark, right? When the going gets tough, the tough get going, right?
Funny thing, though. When I’m afraid, or tired, or sad, or even overjoyed, I still have an urge to call someone’s name.
... the same Lord is Lord of all and is generous to all who call on him.
For, "Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved."
It doesn’t explain everything, but it’s a good place to start. Amen.
PRAISE MUSIC
“We’ve Come This Far By Faith”
BENEDICTION
The Lord bless you and keep you;
the Lord make His face shine upon you and be gracious to you;
the Lord turn His face toward you and give you peace. Amen.
Spanish Version
Jehová te bendiga, y te guarde:
Haga resplandecer Jehová su rostro sobre ti, y haya de ti misericordia:
Jehová alce á ti su rostro, y ponga en ti paz. Amén.
Be sure to take a look at the announcements for today!
