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TRUTH: New Teaching with AUTHORITY ... 4th Sunday After Epiphany
10:45 - Leader's Meeting
11:00 - Coffee Hour in 11 Minutes
(Sip your coffee and discuss Genesis 16 or 21 or Mark 1 ... and how God might reach a Wide Range of People through us during this season of Epiphany ... or what does COMPANIONSHIP mean for you during this unfathomable New Year?)
11:11 - WORSHIP BEGINS
A) PRELUDE: Woke Up this Morning With My Mind (Stayed on Freedom)
A) PRELUDE: Woke Up this Morning With My Mind (Stayed on Freedom)
B) EL ROI (The God Who Sees Me): GENESIS 16:1-13 read by #1
1) Now Sarai, Abram’s wife, had borne him no children. But she had an Egyptian slave named Hagar; so she said to Abram, “The Lord has kept me from having children. Go, sleep with my slave; perhaps I can build a family through her.”
2) Abram agreed to what Sarai said. So after Abram had been living in Canaan ten years, Sarai his wife took her Egyptian slave Hagar and gave her to her husband to be his wife. He slept with Hagar, and she conceived. When she knew she was pregnant, she began to despise her mistress.
1) Then Sarai said to Abram, “You are responsible for the wrong I am suffering. I put my slave in your arms, and now that she knows she is pregnant, she despises me. May the Lord judge between you and me.”
2) “Your slave is in your hands,” Abram said. “Do with her whatever you think best.” Then Sarai mistreated Hagar; so she fled from her. The angel of the Lord found Hagar near a spring in the desert; it was the spring that is beside the road to Shur. And he said, “Hagar, slave of Sarai, where have you come from, and where are you going?”
1) “I’m running away from my mistress Sarai,” she answered. Then the angel of the Lord told her, “Go back to your mistress and submit to her.” The angel added, “I will increase your descendants so much that they will be too numerous to count.”
2) The angel of the Lord also said to her: “You are now pregnant and you will give birth to a son. You shall name him Ishmael, for the Lord has heard of your misery. He will be a wild donkey of a man; his hand will be against everyone and everyone’s hand against him, and he will live in hostility toward all his brothers.”
[Hagar] gave this name to the Lord who spoke to her:
“You are the God who sees me,” for she said,
“I have now seen the ONE WHO SEES ME.”
B) First Hymn: El-Shaddai written and led by Michael Card (Pastor Todd's favorite Christian songwriter. I took classes with him at Cornerstone Music Festival and Calvin Seminary in Grand Rapids, Michigan)
Please MUTE and SING (lyrics are in the video)
What is the mission of Mt. Olive Lutheran Church?
To Serve as a VEHICLE through which the Gospel is Spread!!!
about being a VEHICLE
that will deliver CONFIDENCE, COMPASSION, and COMPANIONSHIP
to a tremendously anxious COMMUNITY,
remembering that God is our REFUGE & STRENGTH.
I) THIS Sunday is the 3rd Sunday of Epiphany
Light ... OF THE WORLD - January 3
Light ... IN THE DARKNESS - January 10
Light ... YET TO COME - January 17
Light ... LET IT SHINE - January 24
Truth ... NEW TEACHING/With Authority - January 31
Truth ... THAT SILENCES/Condemnation - February 7
Truth ... HARD TO HANDLE/In Shadows - February 14
Wednesday, February 17 is ASH WEDNESDAY
Sunday, February 21 is the First Sunday in LENT
Sunday, April 4 is EASTER Sunday
II) THIS Wednesday, January 27 is BIBLE STUDY at 7 PM
Who is my Biblical Companion ... and Why?
January 20 - Pastor Todd: Philip (Acts 8)
January 27 - Lakeesha Browne
February 3 - Yarlette Bryant
Anyone want Ruth or Esther or Deborah or Shiphrah & Puah or Hagar or Rahab?
Or how about David or Jonathan, or Peter or Paul, or Timothy or Titus, or Samson or Saul, or Barak or Bartimaeus?
III) On Saturday, January 23 at 2 PM, 12 joined us for our Companionship Reboot Refresher with Pastor Jermine Alberty and Pathways to Promise
IV) Reports from the EZEKIEL 44:5 EXPERIMENT
EVERYONE is a part of one Project or the Other:
1) Clean HANDS Project ... Next Pantry Distributions
2) Clean HEART Project ... Black History Month with St. John's (1/31?)
VI) Can I OFFER my STORY? for LENT (My Lament Becomes Praise):
Ash Wednesday, February 17 ... HERE I STAND/When Power Assails Me
Being Treated As LESS THAN Another
has helped me remember how God's Grace is MORE THAN sufficient
1) Wednesday, February 24 ... Like the Woman at the Well
2) Wednesday, March 3 ... Like Tamar (either one)
3) Wednesday, March 10 ... Like Rahab
4) Wednesday, March 17 ... Like Mary Magdalene
5) Wednesday, March 24 ... Like Stephen
Maundy Thursday, April 1 ... Pastor Todd leads Seder Meal
6) Good Friday, April 2 ... Led by Laity or Partnership with another Church
VI) NEXT Recording Projects
Carlos, Tanya, & Ms. Davis have blessed us today with:
Detroit Folk Mass, by James Harris and Tillis Butler, Fortress Press
C) SECOND LESSON: GENESIS 21:8-20, led by #3
3) The child grew and was weaned, and on the day Isaac was weaned Abraham held a great feast. But Sarah saw that the son whom Hagar the Egyptian had borne to Abraham was mocking, and she said to Abraham, “Get rid of that slave woman and her son, for that woman’s son will never share in the inheritance with my son Isaac.”
4) The matter distressed Abraham greatly because it concerned his son. But God said to him, “Do not be so distressed about the boy and your slave woman. Listen to whatever Sarah tells you, because it is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned. I will make the son of the slave into a nation also, because he is your offspring.”
3) Early the next morning Abraham took some food and a skin of water and gave them to Hagar. He set them on her shoulders and then sent her off with the boy. She went on her way and wandered in the Desert of Beersheba. When the water in the skin was gone, she put the boy under one of the bushes. Then she went off and sat down about a bowshot away, for she thought, “I cannot watch the boy die.” And as she sat there, she began to sob.
4) God heard the boy crying, and the angel of God called to Hagar from heaven and said to her, “What is the matter, Hagar? Do not be afraid; God has heard the boy crying as he lies there. Lift the boy up and take him by the hand, for I will make him into a great nation.”
3) Then God opened her eyes and she saw a well of water. So she went and filled the skin with water and gave the boy a drink.
4) God was with the boy as he grew up. He lived in the desert and became an archer.
This is the Word of the Lord.
Thanks Be to God!!
E) KYRIE, led by Carlos Leggett
In peace, let us pray to the Lord.
Lord, have mercy.
For the peace from above, and for our salvation, let us pray to the Lord.
Lord, have mercy.
For the peace of the whole world, for the well-being of the Church of God, and for the unity of all, let us pray to the Lord.
Lord, have mercy.
For this holy house, and for all who offer here their worship and praise, let us pray to the Lord.
Lord, have mercy.
Help, save, comfort, and defend us, gracious Lord.
Amen.
5) The grace of our Lord, Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all.
AND ALSO WITH YOU
6) We gather together and share a CREED to remember that in God, we have a Companion who will never fail us and will be with us always. It is a CREED that reminds us that death is never the final answer, and the hope springs eternal for those who follow the God of Resurrection and Life.
I BELIEVE IN GOD, THE FATHER ALMIGHTY
Creator of heaven and earth.
I BELIEVE IN JESUS CHRIST,
God’s only Son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried; he descended to the dead.* On the third day he rose again; he ascended into heaven, he is seated at the right hand of the Father, and he will come to judge the living and the dead.
I BELIEVE IN THE HOLY SPIRIT,
the holy catholic church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen.
5) We take this moment to confess our sins: Do you confess that you are captive to sin and cannot free yourself from this trap of sin and death, at least not in this life? Do you confess that you have sinned against God in anger, rebellion, frustration, doubt and fear.
WE DO.
6) Do you confess that, because your neighbor fails to love in the way that God commands, that you also have not loved your neighbor as yourself? Do you confess that you struggle to love God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength?
WE DO.
5) Do you ask, with the help of Jesus Christ, Forgive us, Lord, renew us, and lead us, so that we may delight in your will and walk in your ways, to the glory of your holy name.
WE DO. AMEN.
6) Brothers and sisters hear this grace: In the mercy of almighty God, Jesus Christ was given to die for you and for His sake, God forgives you all of your sins. As a called disciple of Christ I declare the entire forgiveness of all of your sins, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
AMEN.
F) GOSPEL LESSON: Mark 1:21-28, led by #7
Halle, Halle, Halle-lujah, led by Tanya Browne & Dolphene Davis
Our Gospel Lesson comes from Mark in the 1st Chapter.
GLORY TO YOU, O LORD!
7) They went to Capernaum; and when the sabbath came, he 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, and 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 Gospel of the Lord.
PRAISE TO YOU, OH CHRIST
G) SECOND SONG What A Beautiful Name It Is, led by the Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir
Please Mute and Sing Along (No Lyrics)
H) SERMON: "You Know MY Name ... and You Let ME Name YOU," shared by Pastor Todd
“What is this? A NEW TEACHING -- WITH AUTHORITY! He commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey him.”
God KNOWS our NAME ... even the unclean spirits ...
“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.”
We are LEGION ... for We are MANY
The ROMAN 10th LEGION: Legio X Fretensis (Legio Decima Fretensis, "Tenth legion of the Strait") was a legion of the Imperial Roman army. It was founded by the young Gaius Octavius (later to become Augustus Caesar) in 41 BC to fight during the period of civil war that started the dissolution of the Roman Republic. Under Nero in 58-63 CE, X Fretensis participated in the campaigns of Gnaeus Domitius Corbulo against the Parthians. X Fretensis was centrally involved in the First Jewish-Roman War (66–73), under the supreme command of Vespasian. X Fretensis is then recorded to have existed at least until the 410s.
HUMAN TRIANGLES of SYSTEMIC OPPRESSION ("Building a Case")
This is the Dynamic that leads to CIVIL WAR, at home, at church, in our country
Hard to remember that JEsus knew, even the UNCLEAN SPIRITS by name
I am GOOD ... They are BAD ... so ... will you CHOOSE Good or Evil?
Best Bible Study on Wednesday about Hagar as a Biblical Companion
Changed my approach to Today's Worship ... not once but twice
Is my computer EVIL ... or just claimed by an UNCLEAN SPIRIT
I am RIGHT ... They are WRONG ... and YOU have to CHOOSE
Sarai (mistreated her slave) ... Hagar (despised her mistress) ... Abram (like Adam, eschewed his responsibility, blaming "the woman ... or women ... God gave him)
The one with the least power is cast as a SCAPEGOAT into the Wilderness
Where GOD serves as a model of HUMBLE FAITHFULNESS
EL ROI: HAGAR is the one SEEN by GOD ... God SEES our NEED
ISHMAEL means the one HEARD by GOD ... Our CRY is HEARD
Jehovah Jirah ... means GOD will PROVIDE
Isaac ... Ishmael ... Hagar ... Sarai ... Abram ... Jacob ... Rachel ... Leah ... Joseph
The Human Triangles of Human Oppression will never go away
Our GOD of HUMBLE FAITHFULNESS ... continues to Cast out this Unclean Spirit
Create in me a clean heart, Oh God, and renew a right spirit within me
“What is this? A NEW TEACHING -- WITH AUTHORITY! He commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey him.”
YOU KNOW MY NAME
SERMON SERIES:
Epiphany: We SEE the TRUTH ...
1) OF THE WORLD - January 3
2) IN THE DARKNESS - January 10
3) YET TO COME - January 17
4) AND LET IT SHINE - January 24
G) THIRD SONG: You Know My Name, lyric video by Tasha Cobbs Leonard, led by Tanya Browne.
Please MUTE and SING along (lyrics are in video:)
K) LITURGY of HOLY COMMUNION This is the Feast of Victory .... Led by Carlos Leggett & Tanya Browne
This is the feast of victory for our God. Alleluia!
Worthy is Christ, the Lamb who was slain, whose blood set us free to be people of God.
Power, riches and wisdom and strength, and honor and blessing and glory are his.
This is the feast of victory for our God. Alleluia!
Sing with all the people of God and join in the hymns of all creation.
Blessing and honor and glory and might be to God and the Lamb forever. Amen.
This is the feast of victory for our God. For the Lamb who was slain has begun his reign. Alleluia, Alleluia!
GREAT THANKSGIVING & Preface by #7
Please UNmute & RESPOND
The Lord be with you,
AND ALSO WITH YOU
Lift up your hearts
WE LIFT THEM TO THE LORD!
Let us give thanks to the Lord, our God.
IT IS RIGHT TO GIVE OUR THANKS AND PRAISE.
It is indeed right and salutary that we should at all times and in all places offer thanks and praise to you, O Lord, Holy Father, through Jesus Christ our Lord, who on this day overcame death and the grave and by his glorious resurrection opened to us the way of everlasting life. And so with the Church on Earth and all the hosts of heaven we praise your name and join their unending hymn.
Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord, led by Pastor Todd
Please MUTE & SING:
HOLY, HOLY, HOLY, LORD, Lord God of power and might. Heaven and earth are full of your glory, Hosanna in the highest. Blessed is he, who comes in the name of the Lord. Hosanna, in the highest.
WORDS OF INSTITUTION & Lord's Prayer, led by #7
The Words of Institution are recorded for us in the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke as well as by St. Paul in 1 Corinthians 11:
“Our Lord Jesus Christ, on the night in which He was betrayed, took bread and when He had given thanks, He broke it and gave it to His disciples saying: ‘Take and eat; this is My body, which is given for you. This do in remembrance of Me.’
“In the same way also He took the cup after supper, gave thanks, and gave it to them saying: ‘Drink of it all of you; this cup is the New Covenant in My blood, which is shed for you and for all people, for the remission of sins. This do as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.'”
When the disciples didn't know how to PRAY in the face of the challenges ahead of them, they asked Jesus for help. He said, "Pray this way!" Will you share with me the Lord's Prayer?
Please UNMute & RESPOND
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 who 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 and ever. Amen.
1) Lamb, Of God, led by Dolphene Davis
2) There Is A Name I Love to Hear, (Oh, How I Love Jesus) led by Pastor Todd
Please MUTE & SING:
1) Lamb of God, you take away the sins of the world, have mercy on us (repeat) ... Lamb of God, you take away, the sins of the world, grant us peace ... grant us peace.
* AND *
Oh, how I love Jesus, Oh, how I love Jesus, Oh, how I love Jesus, Because He first loved me!
There is a name I love to hear, I love to sing its worth; It sounds like music in mine ear, The sweetest name on earth.
It tells me of a Savior's love, Who died to set me free; It tells me of His precious blood, The sinner's perfect plea.
It tells me what my Father hath, In store for every day, And though I tread a darksome path, Yields sunshine all the way.
It tells of One whose loving hear, Can feel my deepest woe, Who in each sorrow bears a part, That none can bear below.
L) Post Communion Blessing & Prayer led by #7
ALL: May the body and blood of our Risen Lord, Jesus the Christ, strengthen you and keep you in His grace, now and always. Amen.
Let us pray. Life-giving God, in the mystery of Christ’s resurrection you send light to conquer darkness, water to give new life, and the bread of life to nourish your people. Help us to stand with Jesus as witnesses to your Son’s resurrection, that we may show your glory to all the world, through Jesus Christ, our risen Lord. AMEN.
M) BENEDICTION: Jesus, Name Above All Names, performed by Michael Eldridge (Acapeldridge); Speak Thy Name performed by Koryn Hawthorne
Please MUTE and SING along (lyrics in Video)
SENDING: Led by led by #7
What is the mission of Mt. Olive Lutheran Church?
TO SERVE as a VEHICLE through which the Gospel is Spread!!!
Go in Peace and Serve the Lord!
Thanks be to God!! And WE WILL!!
Companionship is a ministry of PRESENCE, a relationship responding to isolation and suffering and supportive of healing and recovery.
Companionship welcomes the stranger, building a CIRCLE of CARE with individuals who are facing emotional and mental health challenges.
Companionship is rooted in our natural capacities as human beings to be sensitive, compassionate and concerned.
POSTLUDE 1: You Know My Name by Tasha Cobbs Leonard, led by the children from Faith and Power, who did a mime for Pastor Carmen Vargas and Bishop Rev. David Vargas on Pastor Appreciation Day
POSTLUDE 2: The Rebirth of Kirk Franklin Concert, Karla Nivens, my dear friend and the new Associate Director, of our Impact Ministries and the Racial Justice Director for Highland Park United Methodist Church, sang with Kirk Franklin during this tour.
POSTLUDE 3: For There Is Always Light, written and read by Amanda Gorman at the January 20, 2021 Inauguration of Joseph Biden, the 46th President of the United States of America)
POSTLUDE 4: This Little Light of Mine, led by the NFL Choir