# 🎶 Fourth Sunday After Pentecost
*Please stand in body or in spirit*
## 🎵 Gathering Song
**“This is the Day”**
## 🤝 Unison Welcome
> “No matter who you are or where you are on life’s journey, you are welcome here”
## 📢 Announcements
## ✌️ Passing of the Peace
*“The peace of Christ be with you”*
**And also with you**
## 🔔 Chiming of the Trinity
## 🎹 Prelude
## 🙌 *Call to Worship*
Make a joyful sound to the Holy One. Let the earth rejoice.
**How awesome are your works, O Sovereign!**
Creation groans under the pressure of war, environmental abuse, and communal disconnection.
**We cry out to you, Present God, and you hear and respond.**
You turn our mourning into movement and stir our souls to action and to rest.
**Everlasting God, we will praise you for you clothe us in joy and peace.**
## 🎶 *Hymn*
### 🎵 Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing (#295)
1. **Come, Thou Fount of every blessing,**
Tune my heart to sing Thy grace;
Streams of mercy, never ceasing,
Call for songs of loudest praise.
Teach me some melodious sonnet,
Sung by flaming tongues above;
Praise the mount! I’m fixed upon it,
Mount of Thy redeeming love.
2. **Here I raise mine Ebenezer;**
Hither by Thy help I’m come;
And I hope, by Thy good pleasure,
Safely to arrive at home.
Jesus sought me when a stranger,
Wand’ring from the fold of God;
He, to rescue me from danger,
Interposed His precious blood.
3. **O to grace how great a debtor**
Daily I’m constrained to be!
Let Thy goodness, like a fetter,
Bind my wand’ring heart to Thee.
Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it,
Prone to leave the God I love;
Here’s my heart, Lord—take and seal it,
Seal it for Thy courts above.
*Words — Robert Robinson, 1758 | Music — “Nettleton,” Wyeth’s Repository (1813)*
## 🙏 Call to Confession
God is present to guide our journey and eager to forgive us when we go astray; therefore, in humility and faith, let us confess our sins to God and neighbor.
### 🙏 Prayer of Confession
Spirit of the Living God, temptation surrounds us. Self-preservation lures us to indifference. Fear of confrontation coaxes us to keep silent about things that matter. The desire to be right entices us to ignore the cries of our neighbors. Too often we ignore the call to go and to be in favor of staying stuck in our attitudes and behaviors. Too often, we are the ones who refuse to welcome you into our intimate space, who resist the work of transformation, and who remain unresponsive to the burdens of our siblings in creation. Spirit of Gentleness, redirect us back to the path of life, the way of justice, and the hope of peace. Amen.
### Kyrie
**Hymnal Companion C-4**
## 🕊️ Assurance of Pardon
Our Companion and Advocate takes this journey with us. Our invitation to make the kindom of God our dwelling place continually renews. The Righteous One opens the door and eases our entry into new life, new mercy, and new grace.
## 🎵 Glory Be to the Father
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.
*Words — Anonymous, 4th cent. | Music — Christoph Meineke, 1844 (“Meineke”)*
## 📖 Scripture Reading
### 📘 **Luke 10:1–11**
> **1** After this the Lord appointed seventy-two others and sent them on ahead of him in pairs to every town and place where he himself intended to go.
> **2** He said to them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore ask the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.
> **3** Go on your way; I am sending you out like lambs into the midst of wolves.
> **4** Carry no purse, no bag, no sandals, and greet no one on the road.
> **5** Whatever house you enter, first say, ‘Peace to this house!’
> **6** And if a person of peace is there, your peace will rest on that person; but if not, it will return to you.
> **7** Remain in the same house, eating and drinking what they provide, for the laborer deserves to be paid. Do not move about from house to house.
> **8** Whenever you enter a town and they welcome you, eat what is set before you;
> **9** cure the sick who are there and say to them, ‘The kingdom of God has come near to you.’
> **10** But whenever you enter a town and they do not welcome you, go out into its streets and say,
> “‘Even the dust of your town that clings to our feet, we wipe off in protest against you. Yet know this: the kingdom of God has come near.’
> **11** I tell you, on that day it will be more tolerable for Sodom than for that town."
### 📘 **Luke 10:16–20**
> **16** “Whoever listens to you listens to me, and whoever rejects you rejects me, and whoever rejects me rejects the one who sent me.”
> **17** The seventy-two returned with joy, saying, “Lord, in your name even the demons submit to us!”
> **18** He said to them, “I watched Satan fall from heaven like a flash of lightning.
> **19** See, I have given you authority to tread on snakes and scorpions and over all the power of the enemy; and nothing will hurt you.
> **20** Nevertheless, do not rejoice at this, that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.”
### 📘 **Galatians 6:7–17**
> **7** Do not be deceived; God is not mocked, for you reap whatever you sow.
> **8** Whoever sows to please their flesh, from the flesh will reap destruction; whoever sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life.
> **9** Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.
> **10** So then, whenever we have opportunity, let us work for the good of all, and especially for those of the family of faith.
> **11** See what large letters I make when I am writing in my own hand!
> **12** It is those who want to make a good showing in the flesh that try to compel you to be circumcised—only that they may not be persecuted for the cross of Christ.
> **13** Even the circumcised do not themselves obey the law, but they want you to be circumcised so that they may boast about your flesh.
> **14** May I never boast of anything except the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.
> **15** For neither circumcision nor uncircumcision is anything; but a new creation is everything!
> **16** As for those who will follow this rule—peace be upon them, and mercy, and upon the Israel of God.
> **17** From now on, let no one make trouble for me; for I carry the marks of Jesus branded on my body."
### 📘 **Psalm 66:1–9**
> **1** Make a joyful noise to God, all the earth;
> **2** sing the glory of his name; give to him glorious praise.
> **3** Say to God, “How awesome are your deeds! Because of your great power, your enemies cringe before you.
> **4** All the earth worships you; they sing praises to you, sing praises to your name.” Selah
> **5** Come and see what God has done: he is awesome in his deeds among mortals.
> **6** He turned the sea into dry land; they passed through the river on foot.
> **7** There we rejoiced in him, who rules by his might forever, whose eyes keep watch on the nations—so that the rebellious may not exalt themselves.
> **8** Bless our God, O peoples, let the sound of his praise be heard,
> **9** who has kept us among the living, and has not let our feet slip.
### 📘 **2 Kings 5:1–14**
> **1** Naaman, commander of the army of the king of Aram, was a great man and in high favor with his master, because by him the Lord had given victory to Aram. The man, though a mighty warrior, suffered from leprosy.
> **2** Now the Arameans on one of their raids had taken a young girl captive from the land of Israel, and she served Naaman’s wife.
> **3** She said to her mistress, “If only my master would present himself to the prophet in Samaria! He would cure him of his leprosy.”
> **4** So Naaman went in and told his lord just what the girl from the land of Israel had said.
> **5** And the king of Aram said, “Go then, and I will send along a letter to the king of Israel.”
> **6** He went, taking with him ten talents of silver, six thousand shekels of gold, and ten changes of clothing.
> **7** He brought the letter to the king of Israel, which read, “When this letter reaches you, know that I have sent to you my servant Naaman, that you may cure him of his leprosy.”
> **8** When the king of Israel read the letter, he tore his clothes and said, “Am I God, to give death or life, that this man sends word to me to cure a man of his leprosy? Just look and see how he is trying to pick a quarrel with me.”
> **9** But when Elisha the man of God heard that the king of Israel had torn his clothes, he sent a message to the king, “Why have you torn your clothes? Let him come to me, that he may learn that there is a prophet in Israel.”
> **10** So Naaman came with his horses and chariots, and halted at the entrance of Elisha’s house.
> **11** Elisha sent a messenger to him, saying, “Go, wash in the Jordan seven times, and your flesh shall be restored and you shall be clean.”
> **12** But Naaman became angry and went away, saying, “I thought that for me he would surely come out, and stand and call on the name of the Lord his God, and would wave his hand over the spot—and cure the leprosy!
> **13** Are not Abana and Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? Could I not wash in them, and be clean?” He turned and went away in a rage.
> **14** But his servants approached and said to him, “Father, if the prophet had commanded you to do something difficult, would you not have done it? How much more, when he says to you, ‘Wash, and be clean’?”
---
…
## 📜 Responsive Reading
**Psalm 66:1-9 (The Inclusive Bible)**
Shout to God all the earth! Sing the glory of God’s name, give glorious praise!
> **1** Shout joyfully to God, all the earth!
> **2** Sing praise to the glory of God’s Name! Proclaim God’s glorious praise!
> **3** Say to God, “How awesome are your deeds! So great is your power that your enemies cringe before you.
> **4** All the earth bows down to you and sings your praises, sings praises to your Name.”
> **5** Come and see what God has done—awesome in deeds among mortals!
> **6** God turned the sea into dry land; our ancestors crossed the river on foot—there we rejoiced in God,
> **7** who rules forever by God’s might, whose eyes keep watch on the nations—let the rebellious not exalt themselves.
> **8** Bless our God, you peoples, let the sound of God’s praise be heard;
> **9** God has preserved us among the living and kept our feet from slipping.
*(For comparison: [Psalm 66:1-9 NRSVue](https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm+66%3A1-9&version=NRSVUE))*
---
# 🎉 Sing the Glory of God’s Name! Give Glorious Praise!
Say to God, “How awesome are your deeds! Your enemies cower before your great strength!”
**The whole earth worships you and sings praises to you. All creation praises your name.**
Come and see the works of God. God’s deeds on our behalf are wondrous. God turned the sea into dry land; and people passed through the river on foot.
**There we rejoiced in God, whose reign of power lasts forever, whose eyes keep watch on the nations so that the rebellious don’t exalt themselves before God.**
Bless YHWH, all you peoples, let the sound of God’s praises be heard!
**God has kept us among the living and has not let our feet slip.**
## 👧 Children’s Message
**Roxanne Davenport**
Children’s Corner will be offered following the Children’s Message
## 🎻 Violin Solo
**My Hope is Built on Nothing Less** (by William Bradley)
Soloist: *N. Aaron Hartman*
## 📖 Hebrew Scripture
- **2 Kings 5:1-14**
- [2 Kings 5:1-14 NRSVue](https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2+Kings+5%3A1-14&version=NRSVUE)
## ✝️ Sermon
- **Central message**: The sermon centers on the paradox of faith being both easy and hard. Using the story of Naaman, it highlights how faith and healing are freely given by God yet challenging to live out because they demand humility, sacrifice, and community transformation.
- **Liturgical/thematic tie-in**: The story of Naaman's healing mirrors baptism — being restored through water and called to live into that restoration. The preacher ties this to living out faith through acts of justice, love, and community care.
### 🎙 Preaching Style
- **Style**: Primarily *Expository* with narrative elements. The preacher explores the biblical text deeply while weaving in cultural commentary and personal anecdotes.
- **Inclusivity and stories**: The sermon included stories about TV remotes, everyday conveniences, and cultural references (e.g., being the youngest child). These help connect with a broad audience and diverse learning styles.
- **Learning needs accommodation**: Strong auditory storytelling, reflective rhetorical questions, and humor ("cut your sermon instead of your face") catered to different learners but could benefit from more visual or interactive elements for kinesthetic and visual learners.
### 🗣 Intonation and Delivery
- **Impact of delivery**: Welcoming, warm, and self-deprecating humor helped the congregation feel included and relaxed.
- **Tone**: Friendly and empathetic. The varied pace and light jokes made heavy topics accessible.
- **Gestures and visuals**: Minimal mention of physical gestures; might benefit from visual aids or props to emphasize key points for visual learners.
### 📝 Content Structure
- **Organization**: Clear intro (Naaman’s story), development (cultural paradox of "easy" vs. "hard"), conclusion (call to live faith fully).
- **Transitions**: Smooth, often using repeated phrases like "This, my friends," to guide listeners.
- **Learning support**: Effective use of repetition and analogy; lacked explicit visual summaries or slides.
### 👥 Engagement and Application
- **Marginalized groups**: The sermon calls for welcoming strangers and the marginalized, explicitly naming immigrants and the rejected — a strong equity message.
- **Practical applications**: Visiting the sick, sharing wealth, welcoming strangers, praying for others — each framed as tangible actions.
- **Interactive elements**: Calls to reflect personally, but no live discussion or direct kinesthetic engagement.
### 📖 Scripture Breakdown
- **References**: 2 Kings 5:1–19 (Naaman), Galatians 6:2 ("Bear one another’s burdens").
- **Equity and inclusion**: Naaman’s healing is framed as a transformative act beyond ethnic and social boundaries. Galatians passage ties individual faith to community responsibility and justice.
- **Theological implications**: Urges believers to move beyond comfort to radical hospitality and shared burdens, connecting personal faith to social transformation.
### 🧠 Logical Reasoning
#### Positive Reasoning
1. **Strong inductive reasoning**: Observing Naaman’s actions leads to broader insights about faith requiring humility (12:00–14:00).
2. **Causal reasoning**: Clear link between Naaman’s obedience (washing) and his healing, illustrating faith's paradox.
3. **Consistent analogy**: "Easy" solutions vs. "hard" commitments consistently woven to illustrate faith (06:00–09:00).
4. **Appeal to evidence (Scripture)**: Solid foundation on 2 Kings and Galatians strengthens argument credibility.
5. **Ethical reasoning**: Faith as a moral call to welcome strangers and share burdens is consistently presented (19:00–22:00).
#### Suggestions
- To enhance clarity, visuals (like a flow diagram of Naaman's transformation) could help illustrate logical progressions.
- More explicit acknowledgment of counterarguments (e.g., fear of political consequences in embracing marginalized groups) would strengthen nuance.
#### Logical Fallacies
- **Appeal to emotion**: Heavy reliance on emotional language ("hurts to follow love," "risk of rejection") could risk overshadowing logical argument. However, this is common in sermons to motivate hearts rather than purely persuade minds.
- **False dilemma (mild)**: Implies that one must choose between an easy life or a fully sacrificial faith without considering incremental growth stages. Could be reframed to acknowledge varying journeys.
- **Central message**: The sermon centers on the paradox of faith being both easy and hard. Using the story of Naaman, it highlights how faith and healing are freely given by God yet challenging to live out because they demand humility, sacrifice, and community transformation.
- **Liturgical/thematic tie-in**: The story of Naaman's healing mirrors baptism — being restored through water and called to live into that restoration. The preacher ties this to living out faith through acts of justice, love, and community care.
### 🎙 Preaching Style
- **Style**: Primarily *Expository* with narrative elements. The preacher explores the biblical text deeply while weaving in cultural commentary and personal anecdotes.
- **Inclusivity and stories**: The sermon included stories about TV remotes, everyday conveniences, and cultural references (e.g., being the youngest child). These help connect with a broad audience and diverse learning styles.
- **Learning needs accommodation**: Strong auditory storytelling, reflective rhetorical questions, and humor ("cut your sermon instead of your face") catered to different learners but could benefit from more visual or interactive elements for kinesthetic and visual learners.
### 🗣 Intonation and Delivery
- **Impact of delivery**: Welcoming, warm, and self-deprecating humor helped the congregation feel included and relaxed.
- **Tone**: Friendly and empathetic. The varied pace and light jokes made heavy topics accessible.
- **Gestures and visuals**: Minimal mention of physical gestures; might benefit from visual aids or props to emphasize key points for visual learners.
### 📝 Content Structure
- **Organization**: Clear intro (Naaman’s story), development (cultural paradox of "easy" vs. "hard"), conclusion (call to live faith fully).
- **Transitions**: Smooth, often using repeated phrases like "This, my friends," to guide listeners.
- **Learning support**: Effective use of repetition and analogy; lacked explicit visual summaries or slides.
### 👥 Engagement and Application
- **Marginalized groups**: The sermon calls for welcoming strangers and the marginalized, explicitly naming immigrants and the rejected — a strong equity message.
- **Practical applications**: Visiting the sick, sharing wealth, welcoming strangers, praying for others — each framed as tangible actions.
- **Interactive elements**: Calls to reflect personally, but no live discussion or direct kinesthetic engagement.
### 📖 Scripture Breakdown
- **References**: 2 Kings 5:1–19 (Naaman), Galatians 6:2 ("Bear one another’s burdens").
- **Equity and inclusion**: Naaman’s healing is framed as a transformative act beyond ethnic and social boundaries. Galatians passage ties individual faith to community responsibility and justice.
- **Theological implications**: Urges believers to move beyond comfort to radical hospitality and shared burdens, connecting personal faith to social transformation.
### 🧠 Logical Reasoning
#### Positive Reasoning
1. **Strong inductive reasoning**: Observing Naaman’s actions leads to broader insights about faith requiring humility (12:00–14:00).
2. **Causal reasoning**: Clear link between Naaman’s obedience (washing) and his healing, illustrating faith's paradox.
3. **Consistent analogy**: "Easy" solutions vs. "hard" commitments consistently woven to illustrate faith (06:00–09:00).
4. **Appeal to evidence (Scripture)**: Solid foundation on 2 Kings and Galatians strengthens argument credibility.
5. **Ethical reasoning**: Faith as a moral call to welcome strangers and share burdens is consistently presented (19:00–22:00).
#### Suggestions
- To enhance clarity, visuals (like a flow diagram of Naaman's transformation) could help illustrate logical progressions.
- More explicit acknowledgment of counterarguments (e.g., fear of political consequences in embracing marginalized groups) would strengthen nuance.
#### Logical Fallacies
- **Appeal to emotion**: Heavy reliance on emotional language ("hurts to follow love," "risk of rejection") could risk overshadowing logical argument. However, this is common in sermons to motivate hearts rather than purely persuade minds.
- **False dilemma (mild)**: Implies that one must choose between an easy life or a fully sacrificial faith without considering incremental growth stages. Could be reframed to acknowledge varying journeys.
### 📚 References
- **Scripture**: 2 Kings 5:1–19, Galatians 6:2.
- **Other references**: Implicit societal commentary; no explicit citations of theologians or marginalized voices (e.g., Black liberation theologians or LGBTQIA+ scholars).
### 🗨 Quotes and Illustrative Storie
- **Memorable quotes**:
- "Faith is easy because it’s freely given; it’s hard because it demands everything."
- "We like shortcuts, but the good stuff in life is worth the wait."
- **Illustrative stories**: Remote control analogy, personal shaving mishap, TV as a "shortcut culture" critique. These humorously connected daily life to faith lessons.
### 🔄 Calls to Action
- **Specific actions**:
- Visit the sick despite inconvenience.
- Share wealth with those affected by policy cuts.
- Welcome immigrants and strangers.
- Pray for and serve those outside one’s comfort zone.
- **Inclusivity in presentation**: Calls to action were clear but would benefit from visual reminders (bulletin inserts, slides) or hands-on challenges during the service.
## Sermon Recap: The Paradox of Power – Lessons from Naaman (2 Kings 5)
### Scripture Reference
- **2 Kings 5:1-19** – The story of Naaman, commander of the army of Aram, who is healed of leprosy by following the prophet Elisha’s instructions.
### Context of the Scripture
- **Naaman**: A powerful, respected military leader, commander of the army of the king of Aram, in high favor with his master because by him the Lord had given victory to Aram. He was afflicted with leprosy—a disease that brought not only physical suffering but also derision and rejection from society, believed by many to be a curse from God, causing overwhelming grief and embarrassment for him and his family.
- **The Servant Girl**: A young Israelite captive, a lowly slave girl and foreigner, serving Naaman’s wife, who suggests that Naaman seek healing from the prophet in Samaria (Elisha).
- **The King of Aram**: Supports Naaman’s quest, sending a letter and lavish gifts to the king of Israel, including ten pounds of silver, six thousand shekels of gold, and ten sets of garments.
- **The King of Israel**: Distressed by the request, feeling powerless to heal and fearing political manipulation, he tore his clothes, exclaiming, “Am I God, to give death or life?”
- **Elisha**: The prophet who, upon hearing the king of Israel’s distress, sent a message to the king, stating, “Let him come to me, that he may learn that there is a prophet in Israel.” Elisha then sent a message to Naaman, offering a simple solution—wash seven times in the Jordan River.
### Sermon Structure and Key Points
#### Introduction: The Desire for Shortcuts
- The pastor humorously addresses his own shaving mishap, relating it to the congregation’s desire for “shortcuts” in life and even in sermons, noting that people applauded when a sermon was cut short.
- **Cultural Reflection**: Our society values ease, streamlining, and quick solutions (e.g., remote controls, online banking, telephone apps). The speaker recalls a time when the youngest child was the “remote control” for the TV.
- **Paradox**: While we seek ease and quick alternatives, we also distrust things that seem “too easy,” believing that worthwhile things require effort and that easy sometimes implies cheap, flimsy, or half-hearted. The truly good thing is worth the wait and the extra effort.
#### The Paradox in Naaman’s Story
- **Naaman’s Status**: Despite his success, respect, victory, and personal relationship with the king, he suffers from a stigmatizing illness that made lepers outcasts.
- **Desperation**: Having exhausted all other options, Naaman was at the end of his rope, and it was an act of desperation for this mighty, high-ranking military leader to take medical advice from a lowly servant girl.
- **Journey and Expectation**: Naaman travels a great distance and offers a great price for a remedy, expecting an expensive, flashy, or dramatic cure.
- **Elisha’s Simple Command**: “Go, wash in the Jordan seven times, and your flesh shall be restored, and you shall be clean.” (2 Kings 5:10)
- **Naaman’s Offense**: He is initially insulted and becomes enraged by the simplicity and humility required—bathing in the muddy Jordan, a river he considered inferior to his own country’s rivers and symbolic of the boundary between nations and faiths, representing “the wrong track.”
#### The Simplicity and Challenge of Faith
- **Faith’s Simplicity**: Naaman’s cure is easy—just wash. Similarly, faith is accessible and freely given, like the story of Naaman’s healing.
- **The Real Challenge**: The difficulty lies in humbling oneself to submit to God’s way, allowing oneself to do it, and accepting grace, as it requires giving of oneself.
- **Transformation**: When Naaman obeys and immerses himself seven times in the Jordan, he is healed physically, emerging clean of skin, and spiritually, becoming a new man, reborn, renewed, and proclaiming belief in the God of Israel with certainty, conviction, joy, and jubilation.
#### Living Out Faith in a Complex World
- **Naaman’s New Reality**: Returning to a land that worships other gods, Naaman faces the challenging new reality of living out his new faith, as the God of Israel demands a belief in Him alone.
- **Faith’s Cost**: Proclaiming faith in God can result in rejection, ridicule, and the need to shift allegiances from particular political ideologies, money-driven lifestyles, and narrow worldviews to allegiance with God, the God of love, grace, and mercy.
- **Evangelism**: Sharing faith is easy when one is filled with joy and faith, but it is difficult for most because it is out of our comfort zone, and we are afraid to risk ridicule and alienation.
#### Application to Modern Life
- **Parallels to Today**: Like Naaman, we are called to step out of comfort zones and shift our priorities—caring for and reaching out to those who are inferior or rejected, visiting the sick (even if it takes time), sharing our wealth (especially with those facing draconian budget cuts), welcoming strangers and immigrants (despite foreseeable changes), praying for one another and for all others, and risking ourselves in serving God.
- **Baptismal Imagery**: Our baptism is like Naaman’s washing—emerging from the waters restored is easy, but living out those baptismal promises is hard, especially when the world constantly calls us to bow down before the gods of power, commerce, particular political ideology, fear, and division.
- **Community Support**: Faith is not a solitary journey or a completely private relationship; it is given to us freely by God and grows and is nurtured in community gatherings, where we welcome all to the table and grow in love toward others.
#### Scriptural Application
- **Galatians 6:2**: “By bearing each other’s burdens, we fulfill the law of Christ.”
- Living in love, faith, gratitude, humility, and self-sacrifice.
- Welcoming all, even the stranger, into our midst.
- True freedom is found in mutual support and community.
### Who God Is and How He Responds
- **God’s Character**: God is gracious, loving, and merciful. He offers healing and restoration freely, not based on status or worthiness, and meets and heals us in a way that leads to understanding.
- **God’s Response to Humans**: God meets us in our humility and obedience, often through unexpected means and people (e.g., a lowly servant girl, a muddy river), and compels us to live into our promises.
### Who God Says We Are
- **Beloved and Restored**: Like Naaman, we are invited to be cleansed, renewed, and welcomed into God’s family, restored to the fullness of a new creation and community.
- **Called to Community**: We are not isolated individuals but part of a body called to bear one another’s burdens, as faith is nurtured in gatherings where we welcome all.
### How We Are to Live
- **Humble Obedience**: Willingness to follow God’s ways, even when they seem simple or countercultural, and to submit to His cure.
- **Risking for Love**: Stepping out of comfort zones to serve, welcome, and love others, especially the marginalized, opening ourselves to hurt, rejection, and derision as we follow the rule of love.
- **Bearing Burdens**: Supporting each other in community, fulfilling the law of Christ, and working for the good of all people.
- **Resisting Idolatry**: Rejecting the “gods” of power, wealth, ideology, and division in favor of allegiance to God’s kingdom, and not bowing down to fear.
### Closing Challenge
- **Invitation**: Fully immerse yourself in faith, as Naaman did, and emerge restored and set free, following the ways of Christ, as difficult as it is.
- **Blessing**: May God’s peace and mercy be with you as you move forward in your faith journey.
---
_“By bearing each other’s burdens, we fulfill the law of Christ.”_ (Galatians 6:2)
**Amen.**
- **Central message**: The sermon centers on the paradox of faith being both easy and hard. Using the story of Naaman, it highlights how faith and healing are freely given by God yet challenging to live out because they demand humility, sacrifice, and community transformation.
- **Liturgical/thematic tie-in**: The story of Naaman's healing mirrors baptism — being restored through water and called to live into that restoration. The preacher ties this to living out faith through acts of justice, love, and community care.
### 🎙 Preaching Style
- **Style**: Primarily *Expository* with narrative elements. The preacher explores the biblical text deeply while weaving in cultural commentary and personal anecdotes.
- **Inclusivity and stories**: The sermon included stories about TV remotes, everyday conveniences, and cultural references (e.g., being the youngest child). These help connect with a broad audience and diverse learning styles.
- **Learning needs accommodation**: Strong auditory storytelling, reflective rhetorical questions, and humor ("cut your sermon instead of your face") catered to different learners but could benefit from more visual or interactive elements for kinesthetic and visual learners.
### 🗣 Intonation and Delivery
- **Impact of delivery**: Welcoming, warm, and self-deprecating humor helped the congregation feel included and relaxed.
- **Tone**: Friendly and empathetic. The varied pace and light jokes made heavy topics accessible.
- **Gestures and visuals**: Minimal mention of physical gestures; might benefit from visual aids or props to emphasize key points for visual learners.
### 📝 Content Structure
- **Organization**: Clear intro (Naaman’s story), development (cultural paradox of "easy" vs. "hard"), conclusion (call to live faith fully).
- **Transitions**: Smooth, often using repeated phrases like "This, my friends," to guide listeners.
- **Learning support**: Effective use of repetition and analogy; lacked explicit visual summaries or slides.
### 👥 Engagement and Application
- **Marginalized groups**: The sermon calls for welcoming strangers and the marginalized, explicitly naming immigrants and the rejected — a strong equity message.
- **Practical applications**: Visiting the sick, sharing wealth, welcoming strangers, praying for others — each framed as tangible actions.
- **Interactive elements**: Calls to reflect personally, but no live discussion or direct kinesthetic engagement.
### 📖 Scripture Breakdown
- **References**: 2 Kings 5:1–19 (Naaman), Galatians 6:2 ("Bear one another’s burdens").
- **Equity and inclusion**: Naaman’s healing is framed as a transformative act beyond ethnic and social boundaries. Galatians passage ties individual faith to community responsibility and justice.
- **Theological implications**: Urges believers to move beyond comfort to radical hospitality and shared burdens, connecting personal faith to social transformation.
### 🧠 Logical Reasoning
#### Positive Reasoning
1. **Strong inductive reasoning**: Observing Naaman’s actions leads to broader insights about faith requiring humility (12:00–14:00).
2. **Causal reasoning**: Clear link between Naaman’s obedience (washing) and his healing, illustrating faith's paradox.
3. **Consistent analogy**: "Easy" solutions vs. "hard" commitments consistently woven to illustrate faith (06:00–09:00).
4. **Appeal to evidence (Scripture)**: Solid foundation on 2 Kings and Galatians strengthens argument credibility.
5. **Ethical reasoning**: Faith as a moral call to welcome strangers and share burdens is consistently presented (19:00–22:00).
#### Suggestions
- To enhance clarity, visuals (like a flow diagram of Naaman's transformation) could help illustrate logical progressions.
- More explicit acknowledgment of counterarguments (e.g., fear of political consequences in embracing marginalized groups) would strengthen nuance.
#### Logical Fallacies
- **Appeal to emotion**: Heavy reliance on emotional language ("hurts to follow love," "risk of rejection") could risk overshadowing logical argument. However, this is common in sermons to motivate hearts rather than purely persuade minds.
- **False dilemma (mild)**: Implies that one must choose between an easy life or a fully sacrificial faith without considering incremental growth stages. Could be reframed to acknowledge varying journeys.
- **Central message**: The sermon centers on the paradox of faith being both easy and hard. Using the story of Naaman, it highlights how faith and healing are freely given by God yet challenging to live out because they demand humility, sacrifice, and community transformation.
- **Liturgical/thematic tie-in**: The story of Naaman's healing mirrors baptism — being restored through water and called to live into that restoration. The preacher ties this to living out faith through acts of justice, love, and community care.
### 🎙 Preaching Style
- **Style**: Primarily *Expository* with narrative elements. The preacher explores the biblical text deeply while weaving in cultural commentary and personal anecdotes.
- **Inclusivity and stories**: The sermon included stories about TV remotes, everyday conveniences, and cultural references (e.g., being the youngest child). These help connect with a broad audience and diverse learning styles.
- **Learning needs accommodation**: Strong auditory storytelling, reflective rhetorical questions, and humor ("cut your sermon instead of your face") catered to different learners but could benefit from more visual or interactive elements for kinesthetic and visual learners.
### 🗣 Intonation and Delivery
- **Impact of delivery**: Welcoming, warm, and self-deprecating humor helped the congregation feel included and relaxed.
- **Tone**: Friendly and empathetic. The varied pace and light jokes made heavy topics accessible.
- **Gestures and visuals**: Minimal mention of physical gestures; might benefit from visual aids or props to emphasize key points for visual learners.
### 📝 Content Structure
- **Organization**: Clear intro (Naaman’s story), development (cultural paradox of "easy" vs. "hard"), conclusion (call to live faith fully).
- **Transitions**: Smooth, often using repeated phrases like "This, my friends," to guide listeners.
- **Learning support**: Effective use of repetition and analogy; lacked explicit visual summaries or slides.
### 👥 Engagement and Application
- **Marginalized groups**: The sermon calls for welcoming strangers and the marginalized, explicitly naming immigrants and the rejected — a strong equity message.
- **Practical applications**: Visiting the sick, sharing wealth, welcoming strangers, praying for others — each framed as tangible actions.
- **Interactive elements**: Calls to reflect personally, but no live discussion or direct kinesthetic engagement.
### 📖 Scripture Breakdown
- **References**: 2 Kings 5:1–19 (Naaman), Galatians 6:2 ("Bear one another’s burdens").
- **Equity and inclusion**: Naaman’s healing is framed as a transformative act beyond ethnic and social boundaries. Galatians passage ties individual faith to community responsibility and justice.
- **Theological implications**: Urges believers to move beyond comfort to radical hospitality and shared burdens, connecting personal faith to social transformation.
### 🧠 Logical Reasoning
#### Positive Reasoning
1. **Strong inductive reasoning**: Observing Naaman’s actions leads to broader insights about faith requiring humility (12:00–14:00).
2. **Causal reasoning**: Clear link between Naaman’s obedience (washing) and his healing, illustrating faith's paradox.
3. **Consistent analogy**: "Easy" solutions vs. "hard" commitments consistently woven to illustrate faith (06:00–09:00).
4. **Appeal to evidence (Scripture)**: Solid foundation on 2 Kings and Galatians strengthens argument credibility.
5. **Ethical reasoning**: Faith as a moral call to welcome strangers and share burdens is consistently presented (19:00–22:00).
#### Suggestions
- To enhance clarity, visuals (like a flow diagram of Naaman's transformation) could help illustrate logical progressions.
- More explicit acknowledgment of counterarguments (e.g., fear of political consequences in embracing marginalized groups) would strengthen nuance.
#### Logical Fallacies
- **Appeal to emotion**: Heavy reliance on emotional language ("hurts to follow love," "risk of rejection") could risk overshadowing logical argument. However, this is common in sermons to motivate hearts rather than purely persuade minds.
- **False dilemma (mild)**: Implies that one must choose between an easy life or a fully sacrificial faith without considering incremental growth stages. Could be reframed to acknowledge varying journeys.
### 📚 References
- **Scripture**: 2 Kings 5:1–19, Galatians 6:2.
- **Other references**: Implicit societal commentary; no explicit citations of theologians or marginalized voices (e.g., Black liberation theologians or LGBTQIA+ scholars).
### 🗨 Quotes and Illustrative Storie
- **Memorable quotes**:
- "Faith is easy because it’s freely given; it’s hard because it demands everything."
- "We like shortcuts, but the good stuff in life is worth the wait."
- **Illustrative stories**: Remote control analogy, personal shaving mishap, TV as a "shortcut culture" critique. These humorously connected daily life to faith lessons.
### 🔄 Calls to Action
- **Specific actions**:
- Visit the sick despite inconvenience.
- Share wealth with those affected by policy cuts.
- Welcome immigrants and strangers.
- Pray for and serve those outside one’s comfort zone.
- **Inclusivity in presentation**: Calls to action were clear but would benefit from visual reminders (bulletin inserts, slides) or hands-on challenges during the service.
## Sermon Recap: The Paradox of Power – Lessons from Naaman (2 Kings 5)
### Scripture Reference
- **2 Kings 5:1-19** – The story of Naaman, commander of the army of Aram, who is healed of leprosy by following the prophet Elisha’s instructions.
### Context of the Scripture
- **Naaman**: A powerful, respected military leader, commander of the army of the king of Aram, in high favor with his master because by him the Lord had given victory to Aram. He was afflicted with leprosy—a disease that brought not only physical suffering but also derision and rejection from society, believed by many to be a curse from God, causing overwhelming grief and embarrassment for him and his family.
- **The Servant Girl**: A young Israelite captive, a lowly slave girl and foreigner, serving Naaman’s wife, who suggests that Naaman seek healing from the prophet in Samaria (Elisha).
- **The King of Aram**: Supports Naaman’s quest, sending a letter and lavish gifts to the king of Israel, including ten pounds of silver, six thousand shekels of gold, and ten sets of garments.
- **The King of Israel**: Distressed by the request, feeling powerless to heal and fearing political manipulation, he tore his clothes, exclaiming, “Am I God, to give death or life?”
- **Elisha**: The prophet who, upon hearing the king of Israel’s distress, sent a message to the king, stating, “Let him come to me, that he may learn that there is a prophet in Israel.” Elisha then sent a message to Naaman, offering a simple solution—wash seven times in the Jordan River.
### Sermon Structure and Key Points
#### Introduction: The Desire for Shortcuts
- The pastor humorously addresses his own shaving mishap, relating it to the congregation’s desire for “shortcuts” in life and even in sermons, noting that people applauded when a sermon was cut short.
- **Cultural Reflection**: Our society values ease, streamlining, and quick solutions (e.g., remote controls, online banking, telephone apps). The speaker recalls a time when the youngest child was the “remote control” for the TV.
- **Paradox**: While we seek ease and quick alternatives, we also distrust things that seem “too easy,” believing that worthwhile things require effort and that easy sometimes implies cheap, flimsy, or half-hearted. The truly good thing is worth the wait and the extra effort.
#### The Paradox in Naaman’s Story
- **Naaman’s Status**: Despite his success, respect, victory, and personal relationship with the king, he suffers from a stigmatizing illness that made lepers outcasts.
- **Desperation**: Having exhausted all other options, Naaman was at the end of his rope, and it was an act of desperation for this mighty, high-ranking military leader to take medical advice from a lowly servant girl.
- **Journey and Expectation**: Naaman travels a great distance and offers a great price for a remedy, expecting an expensive, flashy, or dramatic cure.
- **Elisha’s Simple Command**: “Go, wash in the Jordan seven times, and your flesh shall be restored, and you shall be clean.” (2 Kings 5:10)
- **Naaman’s Offense**: He is initially insulted and becomes enraged by the simplicity and humility required—bathing in the muddy Jordan, a river he considered inferior to his own country’s rivers and symbolic of the boundary between nations and faiths, representing “the wrong track.”
#### The Simplicity and Challenge of Faith
- **Faith’s Simplicity**: Naaman’s cure is easy—just wash. Similarly, faith is accessible and freely given, like the story of Naaman’s healing.
- **The Real Challenge**: The difficulty lies in humbling oneself to submit to God’s way, allowing oneself to do it, and accepting grace, as it requires giving of oneself.
- **Transformation**: When Naaman obeys and immerses himself seven times in the Jordan, he is healed physically, emerging clean of skin, and spiritually, becoming a new man, reborn, renewed, and proclaiming belief in the God of Israel with certainty, conviction, joy, and jubilation.
#### Living Out Faith in a Complex World
- **Naaman’s New Reality**: Returning to a land that worships other gods, Naaman faces the challenging new reality of living out his new faith, as the God of Israel demands a belief in Him alone.
- **Faith’s Cost**: Proclaiming faith in God can result in rejection, ridicule, and the need to shift allegiances from particular political ideologies, money-driven lifestyles, and narrow worldviews to allegiance with God, the God of love, grace, and mercy.
- **Evangelism**: Sharing faith is easy when one is filled with joy and faith, but it is difficult for most because it is out of our comfort zone, and we are afraid to risk ridicule and alienation.
#### Application to Modern Life
- **Parallels to Today**: Like Naaman, we are called to step out of comfort zones and shift our priorities—caring for and reaching out to those who are inferior or rejected, visiting the sick (even if it takes time), sharing our wealth (especially with those facing draconian budget cuts), welcoming strangers and immigrants (despite foreseeable changes), praying for one another and for all others, and risking ourselves in serving God.
- **Baptismal Imagery**: Our baptism is like Naaman’s washing—emerging from the waters restored is easy, but living out those baptismal promises is hard, especially when the world constantly calls us to bow down before the gods of power, commerce, particular political ideology, fear, and division.
- **Community Support**: Faith is not a solitary journey or a completely private relationship; it is given to us freely by God and grows and is nurtured in community gatherings, where we welcome all to the table and grow in love toward others.
#### Scriptural Application
- **Galatians 6:2**: “By bearing each other’s burdens, we fulfill the law of Christ.”
- Living in love, faith, gratitude, humility, and self-sacrifice.
- Welcoming all, even the stranger, into our midst.
- True freedom is found in mutual support and community.
### Who God Is and How He Responds
- **God’s Character**: God is gracious, loving, and merciful. He offers healing and restoration freely, not based on status or worthiness, and meets and heals us in a way that leads to understanding.
- **God’s Response to Humans**: God meets us in our humility and obedience, often through unexpected means and people (e.g., a lowly servant girl, a muddy river), and compels us to live into our promises.
### Who God Says We Are
- **Beloved and Restored**: Like Naaman, we are invited to be cleansed, renewed, and welcomed into God’s family, restored to the fullness of a new creation and community.
- **Called to Community**: We are not isolated individuals but part of a body called to bear one another’s burdens, as faith is nurtured in gatherings where we welcome all.
### How We Are to Live
- **Humble Obedience**: Willingness to follow God’s ways, even when they seem simple or countercultural, and to submit to His cure.
- **Risking for Love**: Stepping out of comfort zones to serve, welcome, and love others, especially the marginalized, opening ourselves to hurt, rejection, and derision as we follow the rule of love.
- **Bearing Burdens**: Supporting each other in community, fulfilling the law of Christ, and working for the good of all people.
- **Resisting Idolatry**: Rejecting the “gods” of power, wealth, ideology, and division in favor of allegiance to God’s kingdom, and not bowing down to fear.
### Closing Challenge
- **Invitation**: Fully immerse yourself in faith, as Naaman did, and emerge restored and set free, following the ways of Christ, as difficult as it is.
- **Blessing**: May God’s peace and mercy be with you as you move forward in your faith journey.
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_“By bearing each other’s burdens, we fulfill the law of Christ.”_ (Galatians 6:2)
**Amen.**
## 💬 Sharing of Joys and Concerns
## 🙏 Prayers of the People and the Lord’s Prayer
## 🎁 Invitation to Giving
The generous life responds to the call to mutuality and burden sharing. The generous life recognizes the abundance of creation and trusts the generosity of the Giver of every good and perfect gift. The generous life follows the steps of Jesus in meeting needs, spreading hope, and sharing love.
## 💵 Offertory
## 🎶 *Offertory Response*
**#706 “Praise God from Whom All Blessings Flow”**
Praise God, from whom all blessings flow;
praise Him, all creatures here below;
praise Him above, ye heav’nly host;
praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.
Amen.
*Words — Thomas Ken, 1674 | Music — Genevan Psalter, 1551 (“Old 100th,” LM)*
## 🙏 *Prayer of Dedication*
Creator, bless these gifts that we bring to this community and the world. May our time be used preciously, our treasure shared faithfully, and our talents demonstrated gloriously in your name. Amen.
## 🥖 Service of Holy Communion
## 🎶 *Hymn*
**America the Beautiful** (#702)
1. **O beautiful for spacious skies,**
For amber waves of grain,
For purple mountain majesties
Above the fruited plain!
*America! America!* God shed His grace on thee,
And crown thy good with brotherhood
From sea to shining sea.
2. **O beautiful for pilgrim feet,**
Whose stern, impassioned stress
A thoroughfare for freedom beat
Across the wilderness!
*America! America!* God mend thine every flaw,
Confirm thy soul in self-control,
Thy liberty in law.
3. **O beautiful for heroes proved**
In liberating strife,
Who more than self their country loved,
And mercy more than life!
*America! America!* May God thy gold refine,
Till all success be nobleness,
And every gain divine.
4. **O beautiful for patriot dream**
That sees beyond the years
Thine alabaster cities gleam,
Undimmed by human tears!
*America! America!* God shed His grace on thee,
And crown thy good with brotherhood
From sea to shining sea.
*Words — Katharine Lee Bates, 1893 | Music — Samuel A. Ward, 1885 (“Materna,” CMD)*
## 🏁 *Commission & Benediction*
Go on your way into the harvest as laborers bringing good news into a world of need. Go on your way as companions of one another, of the Spirit, and of Christ. Go on your way in the assurance that the God of peace goes with you, before you, and behind you. Go in peace. Amen.
## 🎹 Postlude (seated)
> Our service was adapted from “Worship Ways” of the United Church of Christ.
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# ☕ Fellowship
Join us for a time of fellowship after worship!
*The “Nursery Nook in the Narthex” quiet area and infant/toddler space in the Parlor are available for children and families to use during worship. Age-appropriate activity bags are also available.*
## 🎂 Birthdays this week
- 7/7 Rodney Byers
- 7/10 Robert Archilbald and Linda Zeger
- 7/11 Betty Koontz, R. Kyle Myers and Kimberly Rzomp
- 7/12 Renee Byers
- 7/13 Annabella Burns, Elizabeth Nutter, William Slothower and Atley John Van Why
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# 🙋 Worship Participants
| **Role** | **Name** |
|------------------------|------------------------------------------------------------------|
| Pastor | Rev. Peter Emig |
| Organist | Barbara Motichka |
| Deacon in Charge | Sarah Myers |
| Lector | Lloyd Beers |
| Children’s Corner | Swann and Diana Kongkeattikul |
| Media Coordinators | Calvin Frantz |
| Bulletin cover | “Healing of the Ten Lepers” from JESUS MAFA, from Art in the Christian Tradition, a project of Vanderbilt Divinity Library |
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## 🌸 The Flowers at the Foot of the Cross
Given in memory of the Horn Family Norman, Helen, Mary, Evelyn, and Margaretta.
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# ✝️ St. John’s Vision
We are called to love, to learn, to worship and to witness in Christ as a congregation that welcomes everyone, and seeks service that will advance God’s realm on earth.
# ✝️ St. John’s Mission
To grow in love of God and neighbor
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