First Congregational Church of WakefieldUnited Church of Christ

Gathered 1785Open and Affirming Congregation

No matter who you are or where you are on life’s journey, you are welcome here!

ChurchArt flowers_20680ac

Welcome to Virtual WorshipJuly 12, 2020Guest Preacher – Donna Ackerman

First Congregational Church Wakefield, UCCVirtual service for Sunday, July 12, 2020

Sixth Sunday after Pentecost

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Prelude“Just a Closer Walk With Thee”Music provided by Jan Stanley

Welcome/Invitation and GatheringDeacon Gail Feddern

Hello and welcome to the First Congregational Church of Wakefield’s Virtual Worship Service for July 12th. We are excited to continue bringing worship directly to you today, this Sixth Sunday after Pentecost. FCCW

thanks you for joining us in worship today and hopes you are faring well in these tumultuous times.

Centering WordsDeacon Gail Feddern

Ask the Sower to cast you onto good, fertile soil, that you may bear the fruit of faith and love.

Announcements & Happenings

Opening HymnHymn #761, “Called as Partners in Christ’s Service”

Geneva Presbyterian Church, Laguna Hills, CA

Call to WorshipDeacon Evy Truhn

You are the Sower, O God, we are the seed. God’s word is being sown in our lives this day

with the promise of new growth. You are the Lover, O God, we are the beloved.

God’s love blossoms in our liveswith a beauty greater than the lilies of the field.

You are the Healer, O God, we are the healed. God’s healing flows through our lives

with every beat of our heart. You are the Potter, O God, we are the clay.

God’s hand fashions us to shine with the glory of Christ’s light. Come! Let us worship the one who sows us in fields of love.

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Opening PrayerDeacon Chuck Hodsdon

Great Sower, cast us like seeds upon the winds of your mercy,

that we may grow in fertile ground. Keep our lives from stony pathways,

where the heat of life’s cares and strife strip our strength and vitality. Protect us from thorny gullies,

where the snares of life’s worries and fears block the sunshine of your Spirit.

Land us safely in rich soil, Master Gardener, and bless us with the kiss of gentle rain,

that our faith may increase and our joy may be complete. Amen.

Storytime for children and the child within

Join us for our story time for children and the child within. Welcome Margie Galabrun who will be reading The Berenstain Bears and Too Much TV by Stan & Jan

Berenstain.

Thank you Margie for sharing that story with us!

Prayer of YearningDeacon Gail Feddern

Caretaker of our souls, we yearn to resist the allures of status and prestige,

for we often pierce ourselves with wounds of our own making.

We long to bloom where we are planted, that righteousness and peace

might flower in our lives. Free us of the fear of appearing foolish before others,

as we seek new growth in your Spirit. Nurture us with your grace and mercy,

that we might blossom and bloom as followers of Christ. Amen.

Words of AssuranceDeacon Gail Feddern

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Those who abide in the Spirit are set free. Those who reside in Christ find no condemnation.

Rejoice that we have been planted in the fertile ground of God’s love and mercy.

Lord’s PrayerRepeat with us in any way that you know it!

Song of Praise and Worship“O Word of God Incarnate”

Hymnist: William W. How, 1823-1897By Hymn Site

Introduction to the Word Deacon Chuck Hodsdon

Do not give up on us, O God, for we are here to follow your precepts

and return to your ways. Speak to us again of your ways of life and death,

that we may grow strong in our faith and bear the fruit of eternal life. Amen.

Response to the Word Deacon Chuck Hodsdon

Your word is a lamp to our feet, O God. Your instructions are a light to our path.

Your decrees are a living heritage. Your teachings are a blessing in times of trial.

Hold our hands and guide us, Holy One. Help us abide in your ways.

Call to Prayer Deacon Evy Truhn

Though the wicked may lay snares for us, in God we dwell secure.

Though the shadows of life may obscure our path, God is a lamp to our feetand a light to our path.

Come, let us offer our prayers and petitions to the one who brings joy to our hearts

and healing to our wounds. Let us pray together.

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ScriptureThe Message Bible

Ann BilodeauGenesis 25:19-34;

Psalm 119:105-112;

SermonA House Divided

Lay Minister, Donna V. Ackerman

God of Love and Light, may the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be pleasing to you Oh Lord

A House Divided

It seems that from the very start of human life there has been a house divided. Adam and Eve clashed with each other as to whether they should eat the fruit from the Tree of Life. Their sons, Cain and Abel, had such division that Cain killed Abel. We heard in today’s scripture reading that Esau and Jacob had conflict over the ownership of their birthright and even their parents, Isaac and Rebekah, showed division by favoring one son over the other. And Genesis is just the first book of the Bible.

It is disheartening to listen to the news today. Whole households and families are being divided by one issue or another. I have friends, married couples, where one is a Democrat and the other is a Republican. They have agreed to disagree. Another friend, a college senior, has parents who are divided by political parties. My friend sides with her mother, which makes it hard for her to have a conversation with her father who is of the opposite point of view.

In June of 1858 at the Republican Convention, in Springfield, IL stood Abraham Lincoln who borrowed from 3 books of the Bible, Matthew 12, Mark 3, and Luke 11 from which he gave this speech.

Mr. President and Gentlemen of the Convention.

If we could first know where we are, and whither we are tending, we could better judge what to do, and how to do it.

We are now far into the fifth year, since a policy was initiated, with the avowed object, and confident promise, of putting an end to slavery agitation.

Under the operation of that policy, that agitation has not only, not ceased, but has constantly augmented.

In my opinion, it will not cease, until a crisis shall have been reached, and passed

1."A house divided against itself cannot stand."

I believe this government cannot endure, permanently half slave and half free.

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I do not expect the Union to be dissolved - I do not expect the house to fall - but I do expect it will cease to be divided.

It will become all one thing, or all the other.

Either the opponents of slavery, will arrest the further spread of it, and place it where the public mind shall rest in the belief that it is in course of ultimate extinction; or its advocates will push it forward till it shall become alike lawful in all the States, old as well as new-North as well as South.

Now we all know how that conflict ended. It took a Civil War to resolve the debate that Lincoln set before the people. Yet today we still have people in our country who believe that certain races are to be kept in a restrictive and subservient manner.

For many, change can be a daunting obstacle. A shift in political and economic power can create fear in the hearts of those who hold the power. They don’t want to rock the boat. Some people say, “if it

aint broke, why fix it?” The problem with this adage is that from another person’s point of view the system is more than just “broke”, its debilitating. When your ability to provide housing for your family is limited because of, systemic racism that prohibits you from acquiring a loan, then you see where the system is

more than just broke. Or when you try to purchase a dwelling that’s in an exclusive neighborhood with a school district that would provide future opportunities for your children, is denied to you all because of the color of your skin, then you see where the system is again more than just broke, its debilitating. Yes, there

are plenty of nondiscrimination laws out there, but when the psychological undercurrent, that many people with power are unaware that they are using, results in decisions that impacts the ability of people

of color to obtain basic fundamental liberties, then the system is beyond broke.

Change, from how things have always been, to how things should be, creates fear and anxiety. In Second Timothy 1:7 the Apostle Paul writes to Timothy saying, “God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind”. We don’t need to fear change. We have power over fear. Here’s another example, something as simple as Aunt Jamima syrup. I have heard people say, “But I grew up with Aunt Jimima, how can they take that away?” Only the name will change. You will still get that thin, lifeless syrupy taste. Personally, I think any respectable New Englander uses real maple syrup.

When society, learns to take off their white privileged glasses and put on the lens of a person of color, they have an opportunity to see things as they really are. One of my favorite childhood toys is the kaleidoscope. I still have two of them. But when you look through the eye piece towards the light, you see colors and shapes beyond the imagination. We need to open our hearts and minds so that we can see the kaleidoscope of colors that God has given us. Those who say, “I don’t see color” when speaking of a person of color, black, brown, etc. is negating the fact that that person has a color. One that they were born with and wear proudly. See the color, it is beautiful. Just don’t discriminate against the color.

A house divided can come in many forms. Some of our countrymen see immigrants as free-loaders, and stealers of jobs. While others see immigrants as refugees like the first Europeans who came to this continent. Are they a hoard of drug dealers and rapists, or are they families that want what every human being wants, security, opportunity, and peace? We can continue this divided house scenario to include LGBTQ people. Thankfully, our congregation has risen above this debate and became an Open and Affirming church. But there are still people who do not accept non-heterosexuals. They are confused and again fearful of what has been the “traditional” norm. LGBTQ people did not just appear during the 20 th

century, they have been around since the beginning of time. It was society that kept them hidden.

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Even my distinction of categorizing people into “us” and “them” is a thought pattern that needs to change. As long as we label people into neat little boxes, we will continue to open the door for a House Divided. Until we begin to walk the talk that Jesus gave us of accepting, not just tolerating, all individuals as human and not with labels, we will forever allow our House to be Divided.

I would like to share a poem written by, Ella Wheeler Wilcox. It is titled, “Two Kinds of People”.

Please join our church’s Racial Justice Mission Group. We zoom on Thursdays at 4:30. We are looking at what it means to have privileges that are not always available for everyone. We are searching how we, as a church and as individuals, can stop being a House Divided. God’s blessings on you all.

TWO KINDS OF PEOPLE

There are two kinds of people on earth to-day;Just two kinds of people, no more I say.

Not the sinner and saint, for it's well understoodThe good are half bad and the bad are half good.

Not the rich and the poor, for to rate a man's wealth,You must first know the state of his conscience and health.

Not the humble and proud, for in life's little span,Who puts on vain airs, is not counted a man.

Not the happy and sad, for the swift flying yearsBring each man his laughter end each man his tears.

No; the two kinds of people on earth I meanAre the people who lift and the people who lean.

Wherever you go you will find the earth's massesAre always divided in just these two classes.

And oddly enough, you will find, too, I ween,There's only one lifter to twenty who lean.

In which class are you? Are you easing the loadOf overtaxed lifters who toil down the road?

Or are you a leaner who lets others bearYour portion of labor and worry and care?

--Ella Wheeler Wilcox.The Charlotte Democrat 10 Jan. 1896: 1.

Instrumental Music for Communion7

Cindy or Jan

Invitation to the OfferingDeacon Evy Truhn

Like a field ready for harvest, our lives bear the marks of God’s love and care.

May we, who bear the fruit of God’s labor, rejoice as people who have been blessed

with a bounty not of our making. With love and thanksgiving,

let us bring our tithes and offerings to those in need.

This is the time in our worship service when we ask you to consider giving to the First Congregational Church of Wakefield. FCCW is responsible for many Good Works and supports many people in doing God’s work. Please donate by mailing your donations to the church building, dropping off your donation in the black lockbox at the side of the church, or visiting our website at fccwakefieldnh.org and donating there.

Thank you for supporting this church and its ministries.

Offertory“We Are Your People”

David Fellingham

DoxologyCindy Eggleston, Music Director

Prayer of Thanksgiving/DedicationOffering Prayer

Deacon Chuck HodsdonMaster Gardener, as you have sown our lives

in a rich and fertile soil, may we bear much fruit through our giving.

With these offerings, may your realm be brought to earth,

as we plant seeds of hope in the fields of life. Bless our gifts and our ministry,

that the world may reap a harvest of generosity and love. Amen.

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Closing Song“All the Way My Savior Leads Me”

By The Haven Quartet

BenedictionLay Minister, Donna V. AckermanGod’s word is a lamp to our feet.

Christ’s teachings are a light to our path. May God’s word take root in our lives.

May Christ’s love nourish us like sunshine and spring rain. God’s word is a lamp to our feet.

Christ’s teachings are a light to our path.

Postlude“God Will Take Care of You”By Fountainview Academy

FCCW Website: www.fccwakefieldnh.org

FCCW Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/FirstCongregationalChurchofWakefieldUCC/

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FCCW Wakefield Wonder and Grace Page: https://www.facebook.com/groups/WakefieldWonderandGrace/

Scifres, Mary. The Abingdon Worship Annual 2020 . Abingdon Press. Kindle Edition.

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