Call to Celebration
God, You embrace all of our humanity.
Your love for us is all-encompassing.
We are followers of Your Way.
This path requires us to embody love in totality.
Love is not beautifully gift-wrapped.
The profound love You share requires us to dig
deeply, to look beyond flaws.
Love is a commitment to remain open and flexible to
the Spirit’s call.
Help us to have open hearts so we can serve with
open hands.
Amen
Offertory
God, Your True Love taught us to serve with integrity. Help us to honor the Divine within each other, especially in the midst of disagreements. Expand our capacity to walk in forgiveness for the sake of right relationship with You and others. Amen
Service June 26
Scripture Lesson
Luke 9:51-62 NIV
Samaritan Opposition
51 As the time approached for him to be taken up to heaven, Jesus resolutely set out for Jerusalem. 52 And he sent messengers on ahead, who went into a Samaritan village to get things ready for him; 53 but the people there did not welcome him, because he was heading for Jerusalem. 54 When the disciples James and John saw this, they asked, “Lord, do you want us to call fire down from heaven to destroy them?” 55 But Jesus turned and rebuked them. 56 Then he and his disciples went to another village.
The Cost of Following Jesus
57 As they were walking along the road, a man said to him, “I will follow you wherever you go.” 58 Jesus replied, “Foxes have dens and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head.”59 He said to another man, “Follow me.” But he replied, “Lord, first let me go and bury my father.”60 Jesus said to him, “Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and proclaim the kingdom of God.” 61 Still another said, “I will follow you, Lord; but first let me go back and say goodbye to my family.” 62 Jesus replied, “No one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God.