Broadway Christian Church · Columbia, Missouri

The Worship of God · August 29, 2010

Litany of Praise

Based on Psalm 81

Sing aloud to God and shout for joy!

   Raise a song, sound the tambourine, the sweet lyre with the harp.

“I will answer you in the secret place of thunder.”

   “I will feed you with the finest wheat, with honey from the rock!”

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

Tim Carson

[The prayer begins with a time for silent meditation and prayers.]

In the stillness of each moment, the surprise of each event, the healing that follows loss, the birth of hope when hope is absent, in these, O God, we find your moving. We thank you.

So often, we are broken and break others in our brokenness. Forgive us. So often, we do not turn to you for our daily bread but seek our sustenance in the wrong places and the wrong ways. So often, our disappointments immobilize us. Our uncertainty keeps us trapped. So fill us with faith; kindle in us hearts of love, so that at the end of all of our days, we will not sigh with regret, but unfold our hands before you like the flowers of praise.

You – beginning and end of all there is. With this trust, we pray the prayer our Lord taught us saying…

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

Luke 14:1,7-14

On one occasion when Jesus was going to the house of a leader of the Pharisees to eat a meal on the Sabbath, they were watching him closely.

When he noticed how the guests chose the places of honor, he told them a parable. “When you are invited by someone to a wedding banquet, do not sit down at the place of honor, in case someone more distinguished than you has been invited by your host; and the host who invited both of you may come and say to you, ‘Give this person your place,’ and then in disgrace you would start to take the lowest place. But when you are invited, go and sit down at the lowest place, so that when your host comes, he may say to you, ‘Friend, move up higher’; then you will be honored in the presence of all who sit at the table with you. For all who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.

He said also to the one who had invited him, “When you give a luncheon or a dinner, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or rich neighbors, in case they may invite you in return, and you would be repaid. But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind. And you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you, for you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.”

Message

Place of Honor

Tim Carson

When you would go to my grandmother’s house, the table was full. All the seats were taken. Dinner was about to begin, and there was a knock at the door. One more person showed up. There was always another place at the table. In a miracle of efficiency, things were shifted and another plate was put down, and another chair was found. Everything was resituated, and there was always another place at the table. There was always enough to eat. Everyone was always welcomed. It was the first lesson I had in inclusive hospitality. If there is a better sign and story for the way the Church should be, I can’t think of it.

Jesus’ story today – his teachings around meal fellowship – is the same thing really. It is about humility, of course. It is about choosing where you sit at the table. In middle-eastern codes of meals, it was specified who would sit where according to what status one had in the community. He counseled people to choose the place of humbleness so that they might be exalted. 

But as we heard in the second part of that lesson, when you have a feast, he said, don’t just invite the folks you know. Don’t invite the people of esteem in your community. Don’t invite the people for whom you know they will scratch your back if you scratch theirs. He said, “Find the people who don’t have any claims to make for themselves. Invite those persons around the table.” Because there is always a place at the table. There is always another meal setting for that person in God’s house, in God’s kingdom. There is always one more place setting of fine china, and an invitation for people to come and feast and sit at the table.

This morning, we are going to be talking about inclusion in God’s community. September 12 begins a time in our congregation in which we are going to launch a number of new things and the many ways we are including the congregation at the table. We want to share some of those with you today.

[Editor’s note:] The remainder of the sermon time was used to focus on the possibilities for worship and education with the following schedule:

             8:00 a.m. – Daybreak Worship

             9:00 a.m. – Traditional Worship

          10:10 a.m. – Christian Education

          11:15 a.m. – Contemporary Worship

Several church leaders gave a brief overview of opportunities in Christian Education including:

·         Nursery – for infants through 2 years

·         Worship & Wonder – for ages 2 – 5

·         Children/Kids’ Choirs – at 10 a.m.

·         Pathways – for grades K – 5

·         Youth – for grades 6 – 12

·         Adult Classes

There will be a new program ECHO – Extended Children’s Hour Offering designed for younger children who are not quite ready for family worship. It is designed to be a bridge, with the goal of transitioning the children into regular worship with their families.

Focus was also given on our congregation’s many Adult Small Groups that meet throughout the week as well as Growth Groups which will call for a commitment of only ten weeks.

[Pastor Tim concludes;]

We felt it is important in preparation for this next stage of ministry to share as we have this morning. The thing that struck me as I listened to all of the presentations is this: Isn’t the degree of leadership that we have in our congregation absolutely awesome? Multiply that by hundreds and many other respects and you begin to get a sense of the Broadway Spirit.

Benediction

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