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Mark Wheeler
Psalm 8:1-9
Third Sunday in Lent, 03/12/2023
“Behold, There Is a New Creation: Be-Dreamers”
Lidgerwood Presbyterian Church
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Welcome to worship, friends – on this third Sunday in the season of Lent – a Season designed to prepare us for the wonder and grace of Jesus’ death and resurrection, Maundy Thursday, Jesus’ Last Supper, His Good Friday arrest and crucifixion and death, and Resurrection Sunday – let’s join in as Pastor Kathy leads us in our Call to Worship –
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And let’s immediately follow that with our Prelude of Praise and wonder –– Lord, I Lift Your Name on High
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Good morning Friends! Welcome worship at Lidgerwood!! Shalom Aleichem!
We began this season of contrition and confession, repentance and renewal, by reading II Corinthians 5:17, and seeing how God makes us into a “new creation” for the old has gone and the new has come. We talked about how we make lots of opportunities for “starting over” in life, new beginnings. And we talked about how sometimes, after we’ve started over again and again and again and again … we lose hope, we feel hopeless. We talked about the “woman at the well” in John 4 who had started over again with marriage 5X, and now she’s given up on marriage and she just “lives with” another man.
And then we discovered that Christ came for just such a person who struggles, lost and lonely, sick and tired of being sick and tired – for you and me – hopeless; when we are “in Christ, we are – not we will some day become, we ARE already – a new creation.”
This is why the Season of Lent exists. So that we might be-come what God calls us to be. Behold, there is a new creation! So let’s dream together what that might look like.
Welcome, friends, from around the world, to this worshipping community!
Let’s take a second to welcome each other, those in the room and across the globe, to a moment of Sabbath in God’s presence and peace, and with others whom we love and with whom we grow together. Friends, may “The PEACE of Christ be with you – and also in you!!”
Welcome to this “gathering” in God’s name. We are assembled in NorthEast Spokane, WA, along with people from all over the world. We are very glad you are “here” with us.
Be filled with God’s Holy Spirit presence and power, in your homes, through your phones and computers, in this building here, and in your lives. Pray with us … and hear and be transformed by God’s Word.
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Choir –! Thank you leading us in worship with this Sunday’s Choral Anthem – lead us in worship and help us to DREAM of: “A Green Hill Far Away”
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Listen in as Pastor Kathy opens our Prayer time in Confession and Thanksgiving
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10 Gloria Patri
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- what are some praises, thanksgivings, adorations we want to offer?
- Is there a person or a situation you want to lift to our Lord for His answers and grace?
14 We pray this in the name of Jesus, who taught us to pray: [The Lord’s Prayer]
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Let’s prepare to receive a Word from our Majestic God by singing a song of Devotion and Praise and Glory – How Majestic Is Your Name – #61!!
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Creator God, You spoke all of creation into existence by the Your sheer power! You are an awesome God. We look at the complete vastness of the universe, and we stand in sheer wonder and awe. You are … God! And You became just like one of us to show us how much You love us-created-in-Your-own-image-humans. We are awestruck by the utter magnificence of that thought. Open us to know You, love You and serve You now, in Jesus’ name. Amen.
Psalm 8, on page 403 in your pew Bibles, is our Scripture reading today. I’m reading from the New Living Translation. Hear the Word of God —- ….
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O Lord, our Lord, the majesty of Your name fills the earth! Your glory is higher than the heavens.
You have taught children and nursing infants to give You praise. They silence Your enemies who were seeking revenge.
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When I look at the night sky and see the work of Your fingers – the moon and the stars You have set in place – what are mortals that You should think of us, mere humans that You should care for us?
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For You made us only a little lower than God, and You crowned us with glory and honor. You put us in charge of everything You made, giving us authority over all things –
the sheep and the cattle and all the wild animals, the birds in the sky, the fish in the sea, and everything that swims the ocean currents.
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O Lord, our Lord, the majesty of Your name fills the earth!
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We use string for almost everything. Our clothes are held together with string. We play music with string, wrap with string, tie our shoes with string, weave string into cloth, twist string into rope. And that’s just cotton string! We also have nylon string for stronger rope; and fiber-optic string for telecommunications; and metal strings for carrying electricity and holding up huge bridges. Last week, Ira and Lary and Robert and I strung 120 feet of “string” through concrete walls and along ancient air ducts inorder to get these beautiful gifts from Billie Abrams up and running! And now there’s also something called “string theory”, a mathematical and scientific theory that describes how interconnected all of creation is … in all of its 13 dimensions!
String is one of those things we seldom think about but would probably have difficulty doing without.
Well today I want to look at a string to consider this message God has for us, as we consider God’s eternity and God’s eternal plan.
[At this point, fasten one end of a ball of string to one wall to the right side of the chancel. Then unroll the ball moving across the sanctuary and fasten it on the opposite wall.] Note: This sermon uses a ball of string that is stretched across the front of the sanctuary. The string represents eternity. The line it makes keeps going through the walls in each direction for miles and miles – well into Hillyard and “Dogtown”, through Spokane Valley, across the ID border, into Rathdrum … Reardan, Davenport, Wilbur, Moses Lake, Seattle …. Imagine it finally shooting out from earth through space for ever and ever.
Today we will allow this string to symbolize eternity. [Then, paper clips are placed on the string during the sermon at the points where they might fit in eternity. A paper clip for Moses. Then, an inch further, a paper clip for Joshua. A couple of inches, a paper clip for Jesus. Then down another couple of inches, a paper clip with a 2″ square piece of paper. This paper is the USA. Take a black ink pen and put a dot on the paper. This is LPC. Wow. Not very big. Looking intently at the dot, say, “I think I can see you and me.“]
Can you Dream with me here?
What does this string say to us today as we live our daily lives? Let’s look at a few things we sometimes say:
I. I’m too little to matter.
When I look at the night sky and see the work of Your fingers — the moon and the stars You have set in place–what are mortals that you should think of us, mere humans that you should care for us? – Psalm 8:3-4 (NLT)
But God does see us. Think of that. In all of the countless years of history, God sees this little dot. In fact, we are promised that God sees every bit of us. “Indeed, the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows” – Luke 12:7
II. My sin is too big to forgive.
What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? – Rom 7:24
Look at yourself in light of all eternity. God sees you [point to the dot on the paper – compare it to the entire length of string). How eternally serious is your sin? Can you see that what to you and me is so big, God sees in its true perspective… There’s no sin that’s too big for God to forgive. That doesn’t mean that sin is not important. It most certainly is! But it is NOT too big for God to be able to handle!
As Paul went on to say in this same verse from Romans, there is one who will rescue me. Thank God, it’s Jesus!
III. My hurt is too big to forget.
This is probably the statement that expresses my personal excellence – I excel at having hurt feelings and holding onto that hurt … and the only place where I ever admit to that weakness is when I’m in the pulpit – never when I’m really vulnerable … just ask Jennifer!
Well, people do hurt us.
But none of us have been hurt to the degree of Jesus. So when we are overwhelmed with personal pain, allow the forgiveness Jesus offers you and me to seep thru so we can offer it to another.
Look at the string. How inconsequential even the most serious hurt really is! Can we not forgive an action or word that matters so little in all history?
IV. God’s majesty is too vast to comprehend.
“I go east, but He is not there. I go west, but I cannot find Him. I do not see Him in the north, for He is hidden. I turn to the south, but I cannot find Him. But He knows where I am going. …He controls my destiny. No wonder I am so terrified in His presence. When I think of it, terror grips me. God has made my heart faint; the Almighty has terrified me. Darkness is all around me; thick, impenetrable darkness is everywhere.” – Job 23:8-10, 15-17 (NLT)
How true that statement is.
The very vastness of God is why our heavenly Father emptied Himself, took the form of a man, and came to earth as our Savior. (Phil. 2:5-11) This amazing, eternal God became human, incarnate – He came from heaven to earth, to show the way; from the earth to the cross, my debt to pay; from the cross to the grave, from the grave to the sky, Lord I lift Your name on high!
V. The final message is to decide in faith.
“…Choose today whom you will serve. Would you prefer the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates? Or will it be the gods of the Amorites in whose land you now live? But as for me and my family, we will serve the Lord.” – Joshua 24:14-15 (NLT)
“I tell you, now is the time of God’s favor, today is the day of salvation.” (II Cor 6:2)
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Let’s see ourselves as we really are – mere specks of dust in a seemingly eternal universe; and let’s see God as He really is – “O Lord, our Lord, how majestic IS Your name in all the earth … How Great Thou Art,indeed!”; and let’s see what this awesome God wants to be in our lives.
As the Church of LPC, journeying toward Jerusalem with Jesus as He offers Himself as a sacrifice for our sins, getting ready for the next Hundred Years of ministry in NE Spokane, Now is the time of God’s favor! Behold, we are a new creation! We are Be-Comers of God’s reality. Let’s Be-Dreamers of what that might look like! Amen!
[Prayer of acceptance of God’s Salvation in JC, and His call to be His followers together! ]
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Receive our tithes and offerings as symbols of our very lives and livelihood, given as response to Your life given for us! Bless it, and by it bless the world around us. In Christ’s name, Amen.
– Offering (4449 N Nevada St, Spokane, 99207 ; or click HERE, or text 833-976-1333, code “Lidgerwood”)
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26-33 Expedition Song #21 – How Great Thou Art!
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May we Grow in the grace and knowledge of Jesus Christ.
Be filled with God’s Holy Spirit.
And give glory to God, today, and forever! Amen.
And as we do that: “May the Lord bless you and protect you;
may the Lord make his face shine on you and be gracious to you; may the Lord look with favor on you and give you peace.”
38 Announcements
- Thursday Bible Study –very Thursday at 10am, here and on Zoom
- Cantata Choir Rehearsal –very Thursday at 6pm
- New Member Class – Saturday, 9-noon
Resources:
Dietterich, Inagrace T.; Journey of Discovery Bible Study: Behold, There Is a New Creation; Center for Parish Development; Chicago, IL; 1999; Pp. 9-14.
Haun, David; God’s Message From a Ball of String; sermon preached at Hope Christian Church; 11/2/03.
Wheeler, Mark; “Be-Dreamers”; Lidgerwood Presbyterian Church; 03/12/2006.
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