Chapel Worship Guide for Sunday 9 AM, September 8, 2013

The Nemmers Family Chapel at Advocate Condell

Leading us in worship this morning are members of the First Presbyterian Church of Libertyville.

Prelude  

Welcome—Barbara Shafer, Christ Church Highland Park

Worship in Song: 

Hymn 553–Morning Has Broken

Hymn 57–I Sing the Almighty Power of God

Scripture (Old Testament)   Genesis 2:15-3:24

Scripture Reading (New Testament)

Worship Meditation—His Eye is on the Sparrow

Prayer

Message:  by Bill Slater, Bill Slater Ministries, and Christ Church Lake Forest

Worship Response:   Hymn 58– This Is My Father’s World

Benediction—Bill Slater

‘Tis So Sweet to Trust in Jesus is a fitting hymn to close out our week of looking into the Kingdom Time Frame which is one of the 5 Kingdom Principles for Overcoming Suffering.

The lyrics were written by Louisa M. R. Stead in 1882 as a response to the grief she was feeling over the death of her husband.  Mr. Stead had rushed to rescue a drowning child, but he and the boy both perished that day while Louisa and her daughter Lily watched in horror.

Louisa and Lily went on to become missionaries to both South Africa and Rhodesia, carrying the message that Christians are Overcomers. Listen to ‘Tis So Sweet to Trust in Jesus on the cyberhymnal or enjoy this lovely version by CityPrayz with my music friend Toni Groshek.

‘Tis So Sweet to Trust in Jesus 

’Tis so sweet to trust in Jesus,
Just to take Him at His Word;
Just to rest upon His promise,
Just to know, “Thus says the Lord!”

Jesus, Jesus, how I trust Him!
How I’ve proved Him o’er and o’er
Jesus, Jesus, precious Jesus!
O for grace to trust Him more!

O how sweet to trust in Jesus,
Just to trust His cleansing blood;
And in simple faith to plunge me
’Neath the healing, cleansing flood!

Refrain

Yes, ’tis sweet to trust in Jesus,
Just from sin and self to cease;
Just from Jesus simply taking
Life and rest, and joy and peace.

Refrain

I’m so glad I learned to trust Thee,
Precious Jesus, Savior, Friend;
And I know that Thou art with me,
Wilt be with me to the end.

I am offended.”

If I could ban the use of one phrase in the English language right now it would that one…or its pointed accusation corollary “You offended me.”  Nothing shuts down a dialogue faster than that kind of passive aggressive and unproductive exclamation point of victimhood.  

It caps the jar, stops the bottle, dams the river, and silences other people—even those speaking the truth in love—by pronouncing one has achieved victimhood status: “I am offended.”  King me.

In our passage on 5 Principles for the Overcomer (from 1 Peter 2:21-23) we’re looking at verse 23:

When they hurled their insults at [Jesus], he did not retaliate; when he suffered, he made no threats. Instead, he entrusted himself to him who judges justly. (1 Peter 2:23)

Jesus didn’t say, “You offended me.”

He didn’t ever say, “I am offended,” though He had every right to be. 

John 18:19 Meanwhile, the high priest questioned Jesus about his disciples and his teaching. 20 “I have spoken openly to the world,” Jesus replied. “I always taught in synagogues or at the temple, where all the Jews come together. I said nothing in secret. 21 Why question me? Ask those who heard me. Surely they know what I said.” 22 When Jesus said this, one of the officials nearby struck him in the face. “Is this the way you answer the high priest?” he demanded. 23 “If I said something wrong,” Jesus replied, “testify as to what is wrong. But if I spoke the truth, why did you strike me?” 24 Then Annas sent him, still bound, to Caiaphas the high priest.

Work your way through the entire questioning, sentencing, and crucifixion time frame in any of the Gospels and you will see that Jesus…never once…attributed victim status to Himself.  He didn’t crown Himself with offense.

He spoke the Truth.  One of the officials, striking Jesus in the face, demanded an answer to a yes/no question that failed to recognize who the real High Priest was.  So Jesus spoke statements of Truth and asked open-ended questions to keep the dialogue going all the way to the last.

Jesus held fast to the Kingdom Time Frame.

He was patiently in control of His choices even upon the Cross.

Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing” (Luke 23:34)

He didn’t choose to go to His death offended.

Jesus chose to overcome evil with good.

Retaliation, Retribution, and Revenge are closer cousins than you might think.  Today, the news is all about Syria and yet our Scriptures about Overcoming say,

When they hurled their insults at [Jesus], he did not retaliate; when he suffered, he made no threats. Instead, he entrusted himself to him who judges justly. (1 Peter 2:23)

The Kingdom Time Frame is what Jesus relied upon.

Solutions to this Syrian problem abound:

• Pope Francis says to pray and fast which is the most God-honoring thing to do.  It respects God’s timing and God’s ways.  It honors God’s Truth, His love, His concern for humanity, and His power to resolve problems with both divine intervention and human intervention.  It doesn’t choose sides but allows God to work miracles.
• The United Nations is far from being united on doing anything…though the flowery words condemn the use of chemical weapons.  All talk no action.
• The United States is every bit as divided as the United Kingdom.  There is a crisis of confidence in everything from intelligence sources to what the consequences would end up being.
• The Arab League has called for an international response but even among the members of the Arab League, they are divided.  They aren’t their brothers’ keepers even though they have the most at stake.
• Israel has readied its “iron dome” and test fired a missile, and has kept words to a minimum though they believe America has a moral obligation and a responsibility to communicate resolve in the face of a nuclear Iran.

What do we do as Christians when we are faced with the serious dilemma as to whether retaliation for chemical weapons use against innocents merits killing even more people (many of whom will probably also be innocent bystanders and human shields in all of this).

How do we overcome such a complex problem?  Where is the Truth in all of this?

We do what Jesus did.  We do today what the Truth did then.

We adopt a Kingdom Time Frame.

We can pray that God will raise up someone to put a stop to Assad and his use of chemical weapons, if indeed he was the one using them.  Maybe there is someone already in the Syrian civil war whose vested interest in retribution and retaliation can change the situation.  We can pray that God will allow specific technologies to continually thwart a nuclear Iran.  We can pray that God will intervene by sending a plague or a weather-related or seismic event to shift the circumstances.  We can pray that Christians can powerfully witness in this moment by seeking God and not the counsel of a million political advisers.

In the arena of choices, retribution is easy; retaliation is easy; and revenge is way too easy.  All of them propel a human time frame that says, “Solve it now!  Give me the quick fix.  Give me satisfaction of knowing I got an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.”

Christians are supposed to live differently:

Romans 12:14 Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. 15 Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn. 16 Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position. Do not be conceited. 17 Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everybody. 18 If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. 19 Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” says the Lord. 20 On the contrary: “If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head.” 21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

Jesus didn’t retaliate.  He was an Overcomer long before the Cross and the tomb.

Chapel Worship Guide for Sunday 9 AM, September 1, 2013

The Nemmers Family Chapel at Advocate Condell

Worship this morning is provided by the First Presbyterian Church of Libertyville

Prelude

Welcome—Barbara Shafer, Christ Church Highland Park

Worship in Song

Scripture Reading (Old Testament)    Genesis 1:1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. 2 Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters. 3 And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. 4 God saw that the light was good, and he separated the light from the darkness. 5 God called the light “day,” and the darkness he called “night.” And there was evening, and there was morning– the first day. 6 And God said, “Let there be an expanse between the waters to separate water from water.” 7 So God made the expanse and separated the water under the expanse from the water above it. And it was so. 8 God called the expanse “sky.” And there was evening, and there was morning– the second day. 9 And God said, “Let the water under the sky be gathered to one place, and let dry ground appear.” And it was so. 10 God called the dry ground “land,” and the gathered waters he called “seas.” And God saw that it was good. 11 Then God said, “Let the land produce vegetation: seed-bearing plants and trees on the land that bear fruit with seed in it, according to their various kinds.” And it was so. 12 The land produced vegetation: plants bearing seed according to their kinds and trees bearing fruit with seed in it according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good. 13 And there was evening, and there was morning– the third day. 14 And God said, “Let there be lights in the expanse of the sky to separate the day from the night, and let them serve as signs to mark seasons and days and years, 15 and let them be lights in the expanse of the sky to give light on the earth.” And it was so. 16 God made two great lights– the greater light to govern the day and the lesser light to govern the night. He also made the stars. 17 God set them in the expanse of the sky to give light on the earth, 18 to govern the day and the night, and to separate light from darkness. And God saw that it was good. 19 And there was evening, and there was morning– the fourth day. 20 And God said, “Let the water teem with living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the expanse of the sky.” 21 So God created the great creatures of the sea and every living and moving thing with which the water teems, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. 22 God blessed them and said, “Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the water in the seas, and let the birds increase on the earth.” 23 And there was evening, and there was morning– the fifth day. 24 And God said, “Let the land produce living creatures according to their kinds: livestock, creatures that move along the ground, and wild animals, each according to its kind.” And it was so. 25 God made the wild animals according to their kinds, the livestock according to their kinds, and all the creatures that move along the ground according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good. 26 Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.” 27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. 28 God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground.” 29 Then God said, “I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food. 30 And to all the beasts of the earth and all the birds of the air and all the creatures that move on the ground– everything that has the breath of life in it– I give every green plant for food.” And it was so. 31 God saw all that he had made, and it was very good. And there was evening, and there was morning– the sixth day.

2:1 Thus the heavens and the earth were completed in all their vast array. 2 By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work.

Worship Response

Scripture Reading (New Testament)   John 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning. 3 Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.

Prayer

Message: God is Beyond Sufficient as Creator by Barbara Shafer,

The Creation account isn’t a play-by-play, a how-to guide, or a science abstract designed to tell us only something about Creation.  It’s designed to tell us something about the Creator!  God is Beyond Sufficient as Creator in 4 ways:

1. In His decision to Create at all.
2. In His abundance of Creative action.  We have a bountiful creation to enjoy.
3. In His perfection–six days and it’s all very good!
4. In His plan for the future with progeny to carry forth the blessing.

Benediction—Barbara Shafer