Call to Worship

1 - We are gathered this moment for rest and renewal.
          However, brothers and sisters, this sanctuary is not a parking space.

2 - We don’t put our coin in the meter and turn off the "engine" - that is,
           park our heart, body, soul, and mind between the lines.

1 - No, this is more like a service station along the way, where our
           spiritual "tanks" are filled for the journey ahead.

1 - Here we pull out the road map (lift up Bible) and blow off the dust. (do so)

2 - Of course, the "dust" is from the highway, and not from the shelf - right?

1 - Here we ask for directions.

2 - Here we admit wrong turns, and seek out right ones.

1 - Most important, though, here we seek the One to whom we travel,

2 - the One who travels with us,

1 - and the One who propels us forward.

2 - Come, we who love the Lord,

1 - we are marching, we are traveling to Zion.

2 - Please stand - heart, body, soul, and mind - and let your joys be known.

Opening Prayer

               We praise you, Lord, for this sanctuary on our journey. You are the holiness in this place. We pause to reflect on your holiness, as we seek to reflect your holiness in our own lives. But a sanctuary is about safety as well as about holiness. We know you also as the safety which we feel in this sanctuary. We have paused on our week’s journey, once again to experience the holiness and the safety that we find in you and in your body.
               Our hearts are grateful for all of the goodness and love that we have experienced during this past week. We recognize you as the giver of all good things and praise you for this. When we understand that good news reporting is so often construed to be the most ample report of bad things that happen to people, we are thankful that the Gospel is nothing but the good news of your love for us. Thank you for such really Good News.
               On our life journeys, we find ourselves making missteps, stopping short of our goals on the journey, slowing our pace, changing course, and even giving up and turning back from the journey. Though we recognize when we miss the mark, we become experts in concealing our failings. We ask your pardon for all our shortcomings. Renew in us today the overwhelming assurance that all is not lost because of our failing. Give us again the certainty that you and other fellow travelers will be by our sides, no matter what may happen on the journey. Reawaken in us a clear vision of where we are going as we worship and fellowship together here today.
                 In Jesus name we pray, Amen                        (written by Ellis Shenk)

"Road Blocks"

Text: Luke 4:1-13
Object: a AAA TripTik

            When our family went on our big trip west, we first stopped at the American Automobile Association (AAA) and picked up a "TripTik." Does anyone know what a Triptik is? Well, here is what one looks like. I couldn’t find the one we used, so I borrowed this one from Ms. Janet. You tell AAA where you’re headed, and they put a Trip Tik together for you. It’s a map with many pages. Each page shows a portion of your trip. Each page shows a little bit of the road you will be traveling. Why is this helpful? Well, these maps tell you where there are road blocks along the way. What might a road block be? (Talk about them, looking at the TripTik for examples. Ask the children what their family does with road blocks, etc.)
             Anyway, road blocks keep us from getting where we’re supposed to go. Jesus faced some road blocks after he was baptized. The Bible says he went into the wilderness for 40 days. The wilderness wasn’t the road block, it didn’t get in the way of where he was going. I think it was more like going to the AAA for a Trip Tik. In the wilderness Jesus saw a map of the road ahead. In the wilderness the devil showed him a bunch of road blocks. The devil was trying to keep Jesus from going where God wanted Jesus to go.
             It says that with these road blocks the devil "tempted" Jesus. Temptations are things that get in the way of us getting to where God is leading us. Have you ever been tempted to do something you shouldn’t do? Jesus was tempted, also. But he knew these temptations were road blocks. They got in the way of getting to where God wanted him to go. That’s true for us, too. When we’re tempted to do something we shouldn’t do, it’s not just that whatever this is that we shouldn’t do is "bad." It also gets in the way of us getting to where God wants us to go.

              Prayer: Thank you, God, for this special trip you are taking us on. There are wonderful things ahead, as we grow and become who you want us to be. When road blocks get in the way, Lord, help us to get around them, as we follow Jesus. Amen.

Offering

            In this past week we heard a lot about money, and big amounts of money. We also heard our President say that he was standing in our stead asking for a refund of monies we will overpay. In a sense, our time for tithes and offerings is a reminder that the church, in asking for monies for the kingdom, is really asking for refunds. The church stands in proxy for The One who has given to us the stewardship of all that we have or even hope to have In Christian stewardship we acknowledge that both what we refund and what continue to hold and use is kingdom property, and so we seek God’s blessing on both parts. Will the ushers come forward to receive our refunds.               (written by Ellis Shenk)

Come, come ye saints
hear the tune

Come, come ye saints, no toil nor labor fear,
but with joy wend your way.
Though hard to you the journey may appear,
grace shall be as your day.
We have a living Lord to guide,
and we can trust him to provide.
Do this, and joy your hearts will swell:
All is well! All is well!

The world of care is with us every day;
let it not this obscure:
Here we can serve the Master on the way,
and in him be secure.
Gird up your loins, fresh courage take;
our God will never us forsake.
And so our song no fear can quell:
All is well! All is well!

text: William Clayton, 1846;
adapted by Joseph F. Green, Broadman Songs for Men, No. 2, 1960,
©1960, 1988 The Broadman Press.