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[Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] so [Music] [Applause] [Music] good morning and welcome to zion's liberty bell united church of christ center city allentown today is sunday january 31st 2021 in church time it's the fourth sunday after epiphany in the church year thank you for joining us for this time of worship in the united church of christ as we always say especially when we're not together physically no matter who you are or where you are on life's journey you are welcome here every week we remember in our prayers the birthdays anniversaries of members and friends of zion they're scrolling on the screen at this time we encourage you to remember them and others in your prayers during this week in particular our music director jane notech's birthday is tomorrow february 1 so reach out to her with some special wishes and prayers especially now when you may feel a bit disconnected we connect to god through prayer because through god we are joined to one another and you may make a contribution to the ministry and mission of zion's by credit card paypal or send a check to zion's united church of christ 620 west hamilton street allentown pa18101 there's a link to our paypal in the email we send with the service each week it's on our facebook pages post for this service and it will be shown again at the conclusion of today's service this is a time of worship time for acknowledging that there's a power beyond our own that it is god who made us and not we ourselves it's a time of prayer a time for bringing ourselves just as we are into the presence of the holy one this is a time of praise a time for lifting our hearts and voices in grateful thanksgiving to god always important following jesus christ happens in many ways sometimes we follow because we need help and we know jesus can help us please join in our opening hymn pass me not jesus will certainly not pass us by when we ask for help [Music] plus [Music] we [Music] my [Music] my [Music] here [Music] hear [Music] is [Music] oh [Music] is [Music] oh [Music] [Applause] [Music] is [Music] [Applause] me [Music] in a world that seems full of violence sin and evil let us examine how we are taken over there are sins and then there are sins in the church there are seven sins that we consider very serious in the historic christian church one of those seven cardinal sins is anger anger is reportedly widespread these days anger is open rebellion against god or another person in repentance now i invite each of us silently to identify and confess if there is any anger in us and to lift that up to god let us pray amen god hears the confession of our hearts and lips through jesus christ we are forgiven all our sins and by the holy spirit we are empowered for new life friends believe the good news of jesus christ amen today the psalm is psalm 111. praise the lord i will give thanks to the lord with my whole heart in the company of the upright in the congregation greater the works of the lord studied by all who delight in them full of honor and majesty is his work and his righteousness endures forever he has gained renown by his wonderful deeds the lord his grace is gracious and merciful he provides food for those who fear him he is ever mindful of his covenant and the fear of the lord is the beginning of wisdom all those who practice it have a good understanding his praise endures forever the gospel reading today is from mark chapter 1. they went to capernaum and when the sabbath came jesus entered the synagogue and taught they were astounded at his teaching for he taught them as one having authority and not as the scribes just then there was in their synagogue a man with an unclean spirit and he cried out what have you to do with us jesus of nazareth have you come to destroy us i know who you are the holy one of god but jesus rebuked him saying be silent come out of him and the unclean spirit convulsing him and crying with a loud voice came out of him they were all amazed and they kept on asking one another what is this a new teaching with authority he commands even the unclean spirits and they obey him at once his fame began to spread throughout the surrounding region of galilee this is the word of the lord for us today and this week again i invite you to join with me in the united church of christ statement of faith part of it describes how god calls us together we affirm our faith we believe in you o god eternal spirit god of our savior jesus christ and our god and to your deeds we testify you call the worlds into being create persons in your own image and set before each one the ways of life and death you seek in holy love to save all people from aimlessness and sin you judge people and nations by your righteous will declared through prophets and apostles in jesus christ the man of nazareth our crucified and risen savior you have come to us and shared our common lot conquering sin and death and reconciling the world to yourself you bestow upon us your holy spirit creating and renewing the church of jesus christ binding in covenant faithful people of all ages tongues and races and you call us into your church to accept the cost and joy of discipleship to be your servants in the service of others to proclaim the gospel to all the world and resist the powers of evil to share in christ's baptism to eat at his table to join him in his passion and victory and you promise to all who trust you forgiveness of sins and fullness of grace courage in the struggle for justice and peace your presence in trial and rejoicing and eternal life in your realm which has no end blessing and honor glory and power be unto you amen oh lord may the words in our mouths and the meditations in our hearts be acceptable in your sight we pray in the name of jesus our rock and our salvation amen last sunday the message was that we follow jesus because he calls us jesus calls us the goal is to identify the call embrace it and faithfully follow but there are many ways that people follow jesus many ways that they're called another very important one is that jesus helps us when we can't help ourselves stated another way jesus saves perhaps you're thinking well this isn't right we christians are not supposed to be thinking about ourselves we're called to serve others aren't we we're supposed to be responsible for our actions not give up and wimp out well if we think that maybe we have forgotten that the core good news christian message is in jesus god came to save us to do what we cannot do for ourselves for example to save us by overcoming the evil inside of us such as anger we want to do the right thing but we do the opposite paul said that in romans 7 14 to 20 or we're unable to bear the pain and loss and hurt that come our way and sooner or later it does why must i suffer we say i just can't get over what that person did or said to me or what that person never does or were unable to get out of the fog of depression or we have a favorite addiction and it is out of control the good news christian message is that through jesus god helps us god saves us it's all in the reading today from mark jesus calls the four disciples to help him the first four we heard about that last week and immediately he embarks on a ministry of teaching and healing and casting out spirits freeing people from bondage his words ring true and his deeds back up his words a man with an unclean spirit is freed was it a sort of sexual addiction peter's mother is sick and he heals her then she serves him multitudes are brought to him and he heals sicknesses and casts out demons he heals a person afflicted with leprosy he heals a paralytic who is brought to him at home where he was staying the paralytic was lifted down through the roof by his friends the miracles are so fantastic that jesus especially in the gospel of mark is mobbed by people trying to get help the message in mark god's rule on earth is beginning in the ministry of jesus so what to do repent turn from your old ways turn toward god believe the good news be saved be helped we come to jesus to find help and salvation then we have something to share with others when we believe in jesus and our sins are forgiven for example we're much more potentially at least we're much more empathetic to forgive others who have sinned against us when we've been freed from the bondage of sin and evil by jesus we're much better able to help those who are bound when we experience the tender love and powerful justice of god in our own lives we're much more able to pray and act for justice in the world i grew up as a christian i was baptized as an infant confirmed as a young person our family went to church every sunday i heard the good news preached and i believed it but it all made sense in a much deeper way when i needed god to help me i knew the confession of sin by heart in the enr hymnal page three to four but after i caused a car accident when i was 16 years old the confession made sense i needed forgiveness my wife and i experienced a miscarriage and then some years later we welcomed a preemie baby boy my wife could have died at least two times in childbirth we needed help we couldn't help ourselves we experienced jesus powerful help in a small christian group of friends which we are a part of to this day and god's help also came in the form of new families of blood pressure medications how we come to follow jesus i believe also relates to how and why people come to the church back in the day when i was young in the 50s people followed jesus people became christians people joined the church because it was the thing to do your parents expected you to be confirmed no question normal good people went to church membership in churches such as this one i'm sure brought prestige and respectability today it's different people don't go to church because it's the thing to do but people are attracted to church when they are in need there's a book by a ucc pastor named rachel a keefe book is called the life-saving church faith communities and suicide prevention reverend keith was drawn to the church because pastors and members helped her to get through serious bouts of depression and suicide attempts she says that the church should be in the business of saving people's lives connecting them to jesus help and in his book transforming congregational culture reverend anthony b robinson another ucc pastor says that congregations should deliver the goods instead of assuming the goods what that means is in the old days we assumed that leaders and members and newcomers all have a mature faith to enable them to get out and be good christians in the world that means we assume we used to assume that all people were basically christian and had a good background but what he's saying is times have changed today churches need to deliver the goods that means teach the basics of what it means to be a christian learn spiritual disciplines that sustain our work and lives decades ago a church such as zions was a thriving place god's word was preached there were classes and groups for all ages members served their community in various ways and the members of zions have told me all the great stories about how we used to have a full church and classes for every age well now that time is gone is there any life-saving at science today well there's a little bit jubilee breakfast is a community function begun by zions and jubilee uses zion's building to help people to have enough food i know many of you the members of science and friends keep track of one another you pray for one another you express christian love by caring even in this time of covet isolation two weeks ago jeff grace witnessed again how he seeks to express his faith in his work as a politician and consultant but we have to admit there is some life at science but there's not a lot of life and energy left at least left over from the past so i urge you to pray for the leaders the consistory as they discern how god is calling zions to face the future and i ask you to get involved in whatever way you can volunteers will be welcome to serve on consistory i encourage you to communicate with one another and with leaders i encourage you to assist in worship whether now when we pre-record or especially when zion's hopefully goes in person again there's a lot of work ahead of us if and when that happens and i'll keep going i encourage you to contribute generously and pray churches come and go churches change science is changing science comes and it goes maybe it'll come back in another way but remember the bottom line of why we follow jesus it's that jesus still helps and saves you reaffirm again your belief in him repent once again turn to him continue to follow him on your journey amen many of you have given your offering to god either by mail paypal or credit card let us now bless that offering to god's purpose all good gifts around us come from you o god you have given us life and new life in christ as you have given us gifts so we offer our gifts that we may be gifts to one another even so as jesus taught and lived with all our heart and all our minds let us pray to god we thank you dear god for the witness of the scriptures thank you that as we read the gospel of mark we relive your power in jesus to heal to loosen bonds and to restore us thank you that you help and save us when we come to you give us faith to learn to turn to you to cry out in despair to express to you and ask for help for our hopelessness our fear our anxiety our terror saved by your precious love and awesome power may we your people pay forward what we have received as we have shown mercy may we be merciful as we have been treated justly may we live justly as our fears have been dissolved in the waters of your grace may we live without fear except an awe of you as you raise jesus up to overcome death and as he brings life where there was death in us may we rest in confidence that life went with him shall never end gracious god we love the church we love zion's church send your holy spirit upon us so that zions may follow you into the future whatever that may be thank you that you are in charge of the church and you are in charge of our destinies have mercy on all who suffer today especially those who experience unfathomable pain and loss including refugees victims of war victims of shootings in our land and in our cities and country have mercy on people of color who have had to bear constantly an added burden of suffering show us the journey to which we are called so we may help alleviate suffering and guide and give courage to governmental leaders to work for the common good bless and protect president joe biden and vice president kamala harris in their first weeks in office god in your mercy hear our prayers and now as our savior christ taught us we boldly pray together our father in heaven hallowed be your name your kingdom come your will be done on earth as in heaven give us today our daily bread forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us save us from the time of trial and deliver us from evil for yours is the kingdom the power and the glory forever amen i now invite you to join in the african-american spiritual lord i want to be a christian it expresses our yearning to be faithful followers of jesus lord i want to be [Music] in my heart lord i want to be a christian in my heart [Music] lord [Music] is [Music] lord i want to be [Music] in my heart in my heart lord i want to in my heart [Music] my [Music] like jesus lord i want to be like jesus [Music] my heart like jesus christ is the way follow find freedom christ is the life receive and rejoice christ is the truth seek sure that those who seek shall find all the blessings of god father son and holy spirit be with you now and always amen [Music] bye [Music] you