Broadway Christian Church · Columbia, Missouri

The Worship of God · April 18, 2010

Litany

From Psalm 30

You drew us up like people who had stumbled into a pit;

          You set us free, saved, and healed us.  

Weeping may linger with the night, but joy comes with the morning.

          You turned our mourning into dancing!

Let us pray:

          As you have clothed us with joy,

          Now we give thanks to you forever! Amen.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost;

As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be,

World without end. Amen. Amen.

Pastoral Prayer

Jacob Thorne

Gracious God and Loving God; your Spirit dances with us in streams of sunlight. In the beautiful weather, you sway in the gently-moving breeze. You splash us and refresh us with spring showers. You soar, O God, with the birds in the sky, for you, O God, are life and the power of life arising.

This morning, we praise you in hymns, and prayers, and celebration. We praise you for your presence among us, for your Spirit that is deep within us, and for your call to rise and to live, we give thanks.

As we gather now to worship, help us to blossom like the leaves on the trees. Fill our hearts with the beauty that surrounds us each and every day. Give us the courage, O God, to find life’s deep joy and love’s great power. Let your love and your power of life fill all of us with who we are, who we are meant to me, and who you desire us to be. 

We know, O God, that you hear our prayers. We lift up those who are deep within our hearts and need your special touch today.

Hear us now as we say together the prayer your Son taught us:

Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed by 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 debts as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: for thine is the kingdom, the power, and glory, forever. Amen.

New Testament Lesson

John 21:1-14

After these things Jesus showed himself again to the disciples by the Sea of Tiberias; and he showed himself in this way. Gathered there together were Simon Peter, Thomas called the Twin, Nathanael of Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two others of his disciples. Simon Peter said to them, “I am going fishing.” They said to him, “We will go with you.” They went out and got into the boat, but that night they caught nothing.

Just after daybreak, Jesus stood on the beach; but the disciples did not know that it was Jesus. Jesus said to them, “Children, you have no fish, have you?” They answered him, “No.” He said to them, “Cast the net to the right side of the boat, and you will find some.” So they cast it, and now they were not able to haul it in because there were so many fish. That disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, “It is the Lord!” When Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he put on some clothes, for he was naked, and jumped into the sea. But the other disciples came in the boat, dragging the net full of fish, for they were not far from the land, only about a hundred yards off.

When they had gone ashore, they saw a charcoal fire there, with fish on it, and bread. Jesus said to them, “Bring some of the fish that you have just caught.” So Simon Peter went aboard and hauled the net ashore, full of large fish, a hundred fifty-three of them; and though there were so many, the net was not torn. Jesus said to them, “Come and have breakfast.” Now none of the disciples dared to ask him, “Who are you?” because they knew it was the Lord. Jesus came and took the bread and gave it to them, and did the same with the fish. This was now the third time that Jesus appeared to the disciples after he was raised from the dead.

Some Words of Explanation and Introduction

Tim Carson

For every Sunday after Easter, we have yet another story of the resurrection – another resurrection appearance. Today, we are not disappointed. This time, they are by the sea. The disciples are fishing, and there is a problem with the cash. The story has Jesus telling them to throw the nets on the other side. When they do, there are more fish than can be caught and hold in a net without difficulty. 

This is a word to the Church, a word to disciples of Jesus. When we follow him – when we cast our nets where he would have us cast them – we have more than enough of everything we need to be his disciples. 

It is also a communion story, as you know. As they gather by the side of the sea, there is fish and bread. They break that with the Risen One, which is another sign of what happens at our table every time.

This morning, I have a three-minute stewardship sermon for you. Now, here is the deal. If I spoon this out to you in three minutes, I get ALL of you for three minutes. I get your full attention, and you can’t look at your watches, because that would distract you and would take away from the whole idea. So, when I count us off, the three minutes begin. There are going to be five points, which you can have on one hand that are going to end up in three minutes. We will time this. I’ve timed this about ten times. I know it can be done. I think it can be done with you, too.

Ready… Set… Go!

Message

The Three-Minute Stewardship Sermon

Tim Carson

Thank you for your wonderful, generous stewardship and giving to Broadway Christian Church.

This morning, I want to ask you to think about five things.

First, we give as an expression of our faith.  That is why we do it. We give of our time, and our talent, and our resources. We strive toward the tithe of ten percent of our income, all as part of our faith. 

Second, we support the church’s mission in our giving. We believe we have a clear mission here at Broadway, and we are all about worshipping our God, sharing the news of God’s love, forming our children, youth, and adults in the faith, and serving others in the love of Christ. We are on the cusp of the next great thing, and we need you with us in prayer, in service, in financial support.

Third, to be a disciple of Jesus, we need to stop defining ourselves as religious consumers. I invite you to think about your religious experience, not in terms of what you can get, but rather in terms of what you offer. The rise of religious consumerism has been a poisonous development for the life of faith and the church, and we need to turn that attitude around. We are not a religious Wal-Mart.

Fourth, every person needs to be involved. Now I know that some of you live on a fixed income, without many resources. I also know that a goodly number have been through some terrible economic times as of late and are still hurting. But I also know that we are not all hurting. We all have some capacity. So here’s a question for all of us.  Are you giving back to the Lord, proportionately in the degree that you have prospered? For some of you, this will mean increasing your giving to the church by 10 or 25%. Some of you will want to double your giving to the church. But for all of us, this means another step of joyful commitment. God never asks us to give out of what we don’t have, but only out of what we do have. 

Fifth, this will be a pivotal year for us, and we need everyone to stretch in order to achieve this. For those of you who are already strong stewards in the congregation, we encourage you to respond as generously as you are able. For those who are just beginning the stewardship journey, we challenge you to take that first generous step. The result of all this will be blessing – not with another toy in our arsenal of toys. No. The blessing is of spiritual satisfaction and harmony, a sense that you are living for something greater than yourself. Time and again, Jesus taught that the use of money is a spiritual matter, that where our treasure is, there our hearts are as well. In other words, where we invest our resources – our time, our talent, and money – is a reflection of where our heart truly is.

Amen.

Benediction

And now may the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, the fellowship and communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all. Amen.