Greeting                                   James 1:17
“Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.”                                         
 
Call to Worship for Harvest Home          (inspired by Psalm 100, Deut. 26:9-10)
Shouts of joy!
Songs of praise!
Sounds of hope and love!
These are moments of thanksgiving –
thanks giving to our God!
 
Adonai is our God. Our creator.
We are God’s people, led by God’s love.
These are moments of thanksgiving –
thanks giving to our God!
 
Enter God’s house thanks giving.
Enter God’s house full of praise!
These are moments of thanksgiving –
thanks giving to our God!
God’s love is never ending.
God is good! Alleluia!
 
On this day of the harvest –
we bring our gifts to you, God.
You have brought us into this place
and shared with us this land,
a land flowing with milk and honey,
a land flowing with good things,
Bless this thanksgiving, offered now to you!
In Christ’s name, we ask it. May it be so.
 
~ written by Richard Bott, and posted on Sharing Liturgy. http://liturgy.richardbott.com/
 
 
                      
 
Scripture                      Matthew 25:31-46 (NLT)
31 “But when the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit upon his glorious throne. 32 All the nations will be gathered in his presence, and he will separate the people as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33 He will place the sheep at his right hand and the goats at his left.

34 “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the creation of the world. 35 For I was hungry, and you fed me. I was thirsty, and you gave me a drink. I was a stranger, and you invited me into your home. 36 I was naked, and you gave me clothing. I was sick, and you cared for me. I was in prison, and you visited me.’

37 “Then these righteous ones will reply, ‘Lord, when did we ever see you hungry and feed you? Or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38 Or a stranger and show you hospitality? Or naked and give you clothing? 39 When did we ever see you sick or in prison and visit you?’
40 “And the King will say, ‘I tell you the truth, when you did it to one of the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were doing it to me!’
41 “Then the King will turn to those on the left and say, ‘Away with you, you cursed ones, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his demons. 42 For I was hungry, and you didn’t feed me. I was thirsty, and you didn’t give me a drink. 43 I was a stranger, and you didn’t invite me into your home. I was naked, and you didn’t give me clothing. I was sick and in prison, and you didn’t visit me.’
44 “Then they will reply, ‘Lord, when did we ever see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and not help you?’
45 “And he will answer, ‘I tell you the truth, when you refused to help the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were refusing to help me.’
46 “And they will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous will go into eternal life.”
                       
This is the Word of God for the People of God.
Thanks be to God. Amen.       
 
Morning Message                         Seeing Christ
Main Point: Genesis 1:27, “So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.”

      In his own image.  What would our world be like if we saw every human being as one made in God’s image? What would life be like if we looked at someone, and instead of seeing a demographic, a statistic, or an inconvenience, we saw Jesus Christ?  Let’s begin a prayer for God’s message today.
In our Gospel lesson today, Jesus tells of a coming day where the King will separate the people, like a farmer separates the sheep from the goats.
It is said that farmers who keep both sheep and goats do have reason to separate them at times.  While they can mingle together throughout the day, at night time they need separated.  Sheep, because of their wool, can withstand the cooler night temperatures.  Goats cannot, so they have to be herded together to keep warm.

Sheep and goats are used a number of times as illustrations in Scripture.
And, of course, sheep are used as a metaphor for Christians.  Jesus’ followers who know the voice of their Good Shepherd.  And the Good Shepherd who knows his followers by name.

This passage foretells of a final judgement: Not a parable, but actual prophecy from Jesus Christ.  When Christ returns someday, all nations will gather in his presence, and he himself will separate the righteous from the unrighteous.  Notice that while the nations are all gathered, he does not separate by nation, but by individuals, implying that people from all over the world will be part of God’s Kingdom.  Individuals will not be judged by race, ethnicity, or any other category.  They will be sorted out by their righteousness alone.
The sheep representing the righteous will be placed at the right hand of Christ, the goats, representing the unrighteous, will go to his left.
The fate of the unrighteous is made clear in verse 41, “Away with you, you cursed ones, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his demons.”
Verses 42-43 continue saying, “For I was hungry, and you didn’t feed me. I was thirsty, and you didn’t give me a drink.  I was a stranger, and you didn’t invite me into your home. I was naked, and you didn’t give me clothing. I was sick and in prison, and you didn’t visit me.’

And the people on Christ’s left are obviously shocked at this charge: “When?  When did we see you and not help you, Lord?’  Jesus replies, “When you didn’t help the least of my brother and sisters, you didn’t help me.”
The charge against those who are castaway, separated from God for eternity, centered on one thing: their indifferent attitude toward Jesus (and His people).
If you read all of chapter 25, you’ll find the parable of the ten bridesmaids, the parable of the talents, and now this scene of judgement after Christ’s return.  One point has been emphasized: the price of indifference is too high to pay.  Doing nothing with what God has given you is not acceptable nor is it excusable.

For the unrighteous on the left, their indifference sealed their doom.
The lesson for us is clear: We cannot afford to be indifferent towards Jesus and His return.  We cannot afford to be indifferent towards the Holy Spirit who makes us ready for the return of Jesus.  We cannot afford to be indifferent towards the resources that God gives us.  We cannot afford to be indifferent towards the needy people all around us.  And we cannot afford to be indifferent towards lost humanity that will stand in judgment.
R. T. France said this: “The ‘guilt’ of the cursed arises not so much from doing wrong things as from failure to do right…to do nothing is seen as the road to condemnation.”

And then there’s the folks to Jesus’ right: the sheep who know him by name.  To them, Jesus says, “Come you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the creation of the world.”

I was hungry and you fed me.  I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink.  I was in prison and you visited me.  And so on and so on and so on……
And the curious thing is this, something I never noticed before: the righteous asked Jesus the very same question that the unrighteous asked:  When? 
When did we see you and help you, Lord?  And Jesus said, “When you helped the least of my brothers and sisters, you were helping me.”

These are the people who DID see those who were struggling: the cold, the tired, the hungry, the imprisoned, the thirsty.  They saw them and they gave their time, their money, and their resources to help them through their struggles to get them to the other side.  They gave of themselves willingly and generously because they saw the reality of the world around them.

And they didn’t cringe or back away because they were uncomfortable or afraid.  They trusted their Shepherd Jesus to guide them.  They responded to the voice of the Holy Spirit who dwelled in them.  And they pushed through whatever challenged them to help someone else.
And they didn’t even realize that the poor of the world represented Jesus.  They, too, missed that connection.

And notice that Christ didn’t say, “You righteous folks go to my right because you spotted me all over the place, in every man, woman, and child.”
No, the righteous are not commended for spying Jesus in the poor, the hungry, the prisoners.   Because they didn’t.  They just treated all such folks with love.  As God had first loved them, they, in turn, chose to love others.  “Love God and love your neighbor as you love yourself” in action.
And their reward was an eternity in the presence of God Himself, in the home their Savior had prepared for them.
For those who know Christ, that is our hope, too.  And my question to you today is this: what are you thankful for?  How has God blessed you?  Are you thankful for your very life? The life that God breathed into you?  If you are it will be apparent in how you live that life.

Brene’ Brown is a researcher, author, and professor who has done a lot of research on the connection between joy and gratitude.  She says this: "To become fully human means learning to turn my gratitude for being alive into some concrete common good.  It means growing gentler toward human weakness.  It means practicing forgiveness of my and everyone else's hourly failures to live up to divine standards.  It means learning to forget myself on a regular basis in order to attend to the other selves in my vicinity.  It means living so that "I'm only human" does not become an excuse for anything.  It means receiving the human condition as blessing and not curse, in all its achingly frail and redemptive reality."

Sounds a lot like “Love God with all your heart, soul, and mind, and love your neighbor as you love yourself” if you ask me.

Conclusion
Created in God’s own image: What would our world be like if we saw every human being as one made in God’s image?  What would life be like if we looked at someone, and instead of seeing a demographic, a statistic, or an inconvenience, we saw Jesus Christ?  The mark of a true disciple is the love we show for others, Christ-like love.

Henri Nouwen has said this about the disciplined life of a follower of Jesus, “Discipline means to prevent everything in your life from being filled up. Discipline means that somewhere you're not occupied, and certainly not preoccupied. In the spiritual life, discipline means to create that space in which something can happen that you hadn't planned or counted on.”

Creating a space in which the unexpected can happen.  The elderly man next door who could use help getting groceries: Is there space in your life to help him?  The disabled woman down the street who could use some help cleaning up his yard: Is there space for her?  For the person you never met who frequents the food bank because they can’t afford groceries for their family: Is there room in your budget to help that person?  The person who cuts in front of you at the grocery store: Is there room in your heart to not respond in anger, but to say a prayer for that person instead?

Do you see these people as burdens, or as people God created in his own image?
In John 13:34, Jesus said, “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.”
Is there space in your life to pray with someone, pray for someone, share the Good News of Jesus Christ with someone?
We cannot afford to be indifferent towards the resources that God gives us.  We cannot afford to be indifferent towards the needy people all around us.  And we cannot afford to be indifferent towards lost humanity that will stand in judgment someday.
We simply don’t have time.  Judgment day will come and those who don’t know the Lord as their Savior will be condemned into darkness, separation from God, and eternal suffering.
Are you willing to share the very thing you say you are most thankful for? That6 is forgiveness and salvation by faith in Jesus through God’s unlimited grace.
If we take Matthew 25 seriously, and more-or-less at face value, then we cannot help but be reminded of the famous line from St. Francis of Assisi: “Preach the gospel at all times and, if necessary, use words.”  
We know that we are saved by grace, and not by what we do.
But grace opens our eyes to see things that maybe we would miss otherwise.  
Grace opens our hearts to see everyone as people made in the image of God, people Jesus died for just like he did for you and me.
And Grace lets us know that if one day we ask the question, “Lord, when did we see you?”  Jesus’ answer will quite probably be, “When not?” Amen.
           
Prayer of Confession During Harvest
Lord God, as we celebrate your goodness so we confront our own sin,
our greed and insensitivity,
our failure to appreciate what we have
and the opportunities you have given,
our readiness to complain,
our unwillingness to praise.
Father, forgive and renew us.
 
Food taken for granted,
work unappreciated and poorly rewarded;
self-centered blindness to other’s needs.
Deliberate deafness to the cries of the hungry,
coldness of heart to those deprived of affection,
Father, forgive and renew us.
 
A landscape threatened and an economy at risk;
a countryside disheartened,
its communities uncertain and confused,
its isolation and exclusion ignored.
Father, forgive and renew us.
 
May our sins be forgiven,
our blindness, deafness and coldness of heart be healed.
May your renewing spirit rest on us
and fill our nation with your love and hope.
In Jesus’ name. 
Amen
~ posted in Resources for the Celebration of Harvest Festival,” from the Farming Community Network.  http://fcn.ehclients.com/assets/Resources_for_the_Celebration_of_Harvest_Festival.pdf
 
The Lord’s Prayer
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 that 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. Amen.       
 
“Come Ye Thankful People, Come”        Mormon Tabernacle Choir
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=msOzJ6DY7EA
 
Benediction Prayer
Risen Lord of the harvest,
as the wild flower scatters its seeds far and wide,
so may your people scatter the seed of hope in the soils of despair,
bringing to growth those good things that are your gift and promise.
And may the blessing of God Almighty,
the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit,
rest on us and on all our work and worship done in his name. Amen.
~ Christopher Burkett, Harvest for the World, 2002.  Posted at http://www.mothersunion.org/
                            
                        

Sunday Worship, November 1, 2020
 
Greeting                               Matthew 22:37b-38 (NRSV)
Jesus said, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the greatest and first commandment.  And a second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’”
 
Moment of Silence                            welcoming Christ into our midst
 
Call to Worship                  (inspired by Gen. 22: 1-14; Micah 6:8; Deut. 6:5)
What does the Lord require of you?
To do justice, and to love kindness,
and to walk humbly with our God.
What does God command of us?
To love God with all our heart,
and all our soul,
and all our mind,
and all our strength,
and to love our neighbor as ourselves.
God does not call us to ease or to comfort.
But to presence, and abundance,
and grace in our struggle.
Let us worship the God who believes in us,
and trusts in us, and abides with us.
Let us worship the God who will ask much of us,
but will be beside us every step of the way. 
~ written by Eliza Buchakjian-Tweedy, Pastor at First Church Congregational, Rochester, NH.  She blogs at http://sermonizing.wordpress.com/
 
Scripture              Matthew 22:34-46           Galatians 5:13-26
This is the Word of God for the People of God.
Thanks be to God. Amen.       
 
Morning Message             Simple Truths
Swiss-born Karl Barth, who died at the age of 86 in 1968, is considered by many to be one of the most important theologians of the twentieth century.
He is one of the greatest thinkers in the history of Christianity.
He breathed new life into Protestant theology during the grim realities of the 20th century.

And he was considered the intellectual leader of the German Confessing Church, which was the Protestant group that resisted Hitler’s Third Reich.
Barth’s writings are extensive and have been translated into practically every language imaginable.
Point being, Barth was not only a Christian, he was a respected, intellectual giant.

He knew all the big words, the words that young men in seminaries love to challenge each other with on a regular basis.
 But here’s the thing, Barth was smart enough to know that some truths are very simple.

Simple enough that even a child can understand.
One day Karl Barth was challenged by someone who asked him what he thought was the most profound of all theological truths.  
Instead of giving some wordy, academic answer using ten-dollar words, Barth simply said, “Jesus loves me this I know, for the Bible tells me so.”
The person asking the question found Barth’s answer rather charming, but he was also taken back by it.

I mean, what do you say to that?  As a Christian, there’s no debating it.
Barth went on to say, “The greatest truth is the one you already know, the one all Christians know, the one a three-year old can sing about.”
“Jesus loves me.  This I know.”

In Matthew 22:34-46, Jesus was being challenged by the Pharisees.
The Pharisees approached him with this question, “Which is the most important commandment in the law of Moses?”
Keep in mind that Jewish Law had more than 600 commandments.
And they wanted Jesus to narrow it down to one.
Verse 35 tells us the Pharisees were trying to trick Jesus.
And maybe their question concerning the greatest commandment seems pretty simple, to us anyway.

First, we tend to think of “the Law” not as 600+, but as the Ten Commandments; how hard can this be?  You got a one in ten chance here.
Second, we are Christians, we are Methodists, we are Wesleyans, and we have heard the greatest commandment hundreds and hundreds of times in our life: “You must love the Lord your God, and love your neighbor as yourself.”
We’ve heard it, and said it, so much that sadly, it’s become a bit cliché.
So cliché that we neglect to see how profound, and yet simple, Jesus’ answer really is.

And we certainly miss how clever his reply was.
Because in this case, Jesus was cleverly insulting the Pharisees by quoting what is known to all Jews as the Shema.
In Jewish circles the single most famous verse is the so-called Shema from Deuteronomy 6.  

“Shema” is the Hebrew word for “hear” or “listen” and it comes from Deuteronomy 6:4-5, “Hear, O Israel, the Lord your God is one.  Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.”  
The Shema was traditionally recited by every Jewish child and adult at the start of each day and at the conclusion of each day.
In other words, there was no single verse that the average Jew knew better than this one.
So, when Jesus responds to the Pharisees’ trick question by quoting a portion of the Shema, he was throwing back in their faces something they themselves took to be exceedingly basic, something that was second-nature to even the youngest Jewish child.

By quoting the Jewish Shema, Jesus was demonstrating to everyone there that the Pharisees were not really interested in seeing if he could answer their question since even the youngest person there already knew the answer.  
Like the question posed to Karl Barth, this was not a difficult question.  
Like Barth, Jesus took it back to basics.  He kept it simple.
It was like asking Albert Einstein, “Do you know what 2+2 is?”  

And in this case Jesus makes it clear that just asking that question makes them look like the foolish ones.
Because even the youngest child within earshot could answer it.
Love God with all your heart, soul and mind, and love your neighbor as yourself.

If you do these things, all other commandments will automatically fall into place in your life.
It is interesting to me that no matter how often we hear these words, no matter how second-nature they become, we still find ourselves asking the question, “Who is my neighbor?” as if we are looking for a way out of this commandment.

Having too many neighbors, after all, could be a burden.
If we had too many, we may have to sacrifice too much in order to care for them.

It’s the very same question the expert in the law asked Jesus in Luke 10.
Jesus answered with the parable of the Good Samaritan.
The moral of that story was pretty clear: You are not supposed to ask who your neighbor is; instead, you are to be a neighbor to everyone you meet.
So, while Jesus’ simple answer shut down the Pharisees that day, the simple truth of his message still stood.
And it still stands today.

And regardless of how many times we hear it or say it, no matter how we try to make it work so that it fits better into our lives, so that it eases us of our responsibilities, Jesus was still teaching a fundamental Christian truth.
It’s the truth that says if we first truly love God with everything we have, then we will love people as He loves people.
 And we will see all people as being made in God’s image, and as individuals Christ came to save.

And the evidence of this belief will be seen in the way we live our lives.
Can we do this on our own? 
No!  God forbid we even try.
We are saved by faith through God’s grace, and we are sanctified in the same manner.

Galatians 5:22-25, “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.  Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.  Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.”
We cannot attain any of this on our own.
But with God’s help, we will!

Matthew 22:37-39 is not a suggestion, it’s is a commandment of God.
It is THE commandment.

Upon which all other commandments hang.
At the end of Matthew 22, in verse 42, Jesus asked the Pharisees this question, “What do you think of the Messiah?”
This is a question we all must answer, and our very lives and eternal security hinge on the answer.
If you believe Jesus, the Messiah is the fully human, fully divine Son of God…
If you believe he shed his blood and died on the cross as atonement for your sin…
​
And if you confess him as Lord and Savior, Scripture says that you will be saved, and born again into new life.
And as God daily works his cleansing power in you, you will grow every day into a more Christ-like human being, and your deepest desire will be to please him in everything you do.
As you grow through the power of the Holy Spirit, God will show you who you really are: a beloved child of God; a sinner saved by the grace of a God who loved you first.  Amen.
 
Prayer of Confession                                Book of Worship 476
O holy and merciful God,
            we confess that we have not always taken upon ourselves the                                    yoke of obedience,
            nor have we been willing to seek and to do your perfect will.
We have not loved you
            with all our heart and mind and soul and strength,
neither have we loved our neighbors as ourselves.
You have called to us in the need of our sisters and brother,
            And we have passed unheeding on our way,
In the pride of our hearts, and our unwillingness to repent,
            We have turned away from the cross of Christ.
            And have grieved your Holy Spirit.
 
Silent confession
 
Words of Assurance                     Book of Worship 476
Church, may almighty God, who caused light to shine out in darkness,
            Shine in our hearts, cleansing us from all our sins,
            And restoring us to the light of the knowledge of God’s glory,
            In the face of Jesus Christ, our Savior.  Amen.
  
The Lord’s Prayer
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 that 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. Amen.
 
“More Love to Thee, O Christ”                          sung by Fernando Ortega
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zl1nL6M7ogc
 
Benediction                             1 Thessalonians 3:12-13 (NLT)
“And may the Lord make your love for one another, and for all people, grow and overflow, just as our love for you overflows. 13 May he, as a result, make your hearts strong, blameless, and holy as you stand before God our Father, when our Lord Jesus comes again with all his holy people. Amen.”  Peace be with you this day.