Worship Sundays at 9 am

“Peace and Love in Action” Romans 12:1-21

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Finding each other in Worship and Service
Finding each other in Worship and Service

September 22, 2013

Theme      (Making service an act of worship.)

From where does the spark and inspiration for serving another come?  Worship and Service are intimately connected.  Finding our gifts and personal motivation for service and worship and keeping them connected is always the work of faith in the life of a Disciple of Jesus.

On each side of the river stood the tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, yielding its fruit every month. And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations. Rev 22:2
On each side of the river stood the tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, yielding its fruit every month. And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations. Rev 22:2

Prayer

Come to us now, O Lord.  May your love fill our worship and overflow into our lives, our relationships and our work in the world.  Let every gesture and thought, every kind word, hand to help, arm to steady and act of mercy be from us a fulfilling of our worship of you O Lord our God.

Lesson  (Click on the link to see the text) Romans 12:1-21

Bible Study

1) If you were to describe yourself as a part of a body, would you say you are more like:

the hands, the feet, the stomach, the elbow, the nose, the mind, the eyes, the small intestine? and why?

2) In a group of peers what role do you tend to play:

listener, talker, director, questioner, encourager, doubter, carer, problem solver, cheerleader?  Others roles you sometimes play in a group?  How can you use this gift in service to others?

3) What gift(s) do you have that you might naturally use to help the body of the community function at its best? How can you use this regularly in service to others?

4) When serving others, do you sometimes feel that they are less fortunate?  What fortune is there in giving yourself in humble service.  Is it possible that the giver might find a gift more necessary than the person to whom they seek to serve?  How can we learn to serve out of true humble love and service?

5) Does service ever seem to be more of an obligation than an act of worship for you?

6) How does Jesus get around the barriers to service that Peter puts up?  What barriers to the serving of others might Jesus have experienced?

7) How are vs 9-12 filled with examples of what Paul means in vs 1-2?

8) Are there reasons here for being about serving others and worshiping God?

9) Is there help here in discovering what role you might play in being a servant of God?

10) Is there advice you like here about how to accomplish worship and service in the context of:

  • your enemies

  • other believers

  • those who don’t believe

  • those who are suspicious of you as a believer

11) What do you think is your strongest tool for making meaningful connections with others who might see the Gospel in your life?

for others11a) Is there an act of service that you think might bring people together where they are currently separated or divided?

12) Has anyone done something for you that made you think they might be motivated by Love or Worship?

13) Has anyone acted toward you in a way that brought you peace?

14) How do you recognize the actions of others that are motivated by love or peace?

15) How do you find the gifts of love and peace from which to act toward others?

16) What advice do you have that will help produce peace or communicate love and acceptance to others?peace in action1

17) How can our actions toward others be considered acts of worship?

18) What inspires you to service?  How would you describe the inspired source of motivation for service?  Can serving another be truly inspired?  What might that look like?

Objective

  • Learning to find in our worship the urging and encouragement of God for being about acts of peace and love in service to our neighbors and those with whom we share the gift of faith.

  • To find our own motivation for crossing the barriers that keep us from loving and serving others.

  • To explore gifts for building up community and how learning to identify these gifts and to offer them purposefully is an act of worship.

  • Begin to make connections between our Serving and our Worship

Sermon from September 22, 2013 (audio file)

Action Step

  • What are concrete ways or places where you can restore community, acceptance and peace in real world connections in your life?  Go from This Sunday’s worship with plans and intentions to go from our worship into acts of service (Monday through Saturday) and tell someone about it.

Reflection/Devotion   A real story about peace and love in action.peace in action

Quaker community in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania managed to reach out to the family of the man who killed five of their young people.  The reason they gave was that “they must be hurting as well.”  See the Article here.  Be sure to read the section titled “Amish community response.”

Additional curriculum and ideas

  • Find a place to serve and ask these questions before you get there and when you get back…

  • Think of an object or symbol that when given, might help others experience peace.

  • List people in your life you would like to experience peace and love.  How might you help them experience these?

  • Who is the last person you would expect to show love or peace toward you?  How might you take the first step toward showing them love or peace?

  • How might God be involved in our efforts of giving love and peace?

  • How might worship prepare us for this activity of giving love and peace?love in action