Welcome and Instructions Welcome to our Facebook Church online experience for Wednesday, June 25, 2014. Today we will be devoting about the joy of being super nice or extremely welcoming. For our regulars, you will notice we’re back to doing Facebook Church at our old venue. This is proving to be more enjoyable and beneficial. I hope you like it too. If you’re at work or at home, I invite you to put on some headphones. This post will be one long post. If you have to leave this liturgy to watch a linked video, please come back as soon as you can. That will make this devotion more meaningful. Let me know if this works for you by making a comment or two after this is done. Please join me now for a word of prayer. . . Opening Prayer Gracious God, let the meditations of our hearts and the substance from our soul, be filled with your peace. Quiet our minds, our concerns, and our stresses—let us take a break so that we might be met by you. Speak to us, O Lord, for we are listening. Amen. . . Opening Music “In Christ Alone,” by David Wesley. youtu.be/oab9giH2cG0 . . Reading Scripture: Matthew 10:40-42 | New Living Translation “Anyone who receives you receives me, and anyone who receives me receives the Father who sent me. If you receive a prophet as one who speaks for God, you will be given the same reward as a prophet. And if you receive righteous people because of their righteousness, you will be given a reward like theirs. And if you give even a cup of cold water to one of the least of my followers, you will surely be rewarded.” . . Scripture Response: Let us say together, “This is the Word of the Lord—Thanks be to God. Amen.” . . Video Lesson. We remember the Breakfast Club, right? In their closing scene, they wrap up what they learned and then wrote it down. youtu.be/mWUhcKUYbT0 . . Devotion I remember as a young kid, there was this new neighbor who move in down the street. Mom said she was this older woman. After she had moved in, she pretty much kept to herself. You’d never see her outside working in her yard or watering her plants. She must’ve had a dryer in her house because she never hung her wash out to dry. For all practical purposes, no one knew who she was. She and her house became the repository of all manner of scary stories and what-if scenarios. On Halloween, we conjured up that she was a witch and that anyone who went to see her would be eaten. That would all be fine and good but I was the neighborhood paperboy. If you wanted to receive the daily news, I delivered the paper to your door and went to your house once a month to collect for the newspaper subscription in person. About a year after the lady moved in, she decided to subscribe to the Daily Oklahoman. When I received the notice, I was more than a little nervous. Sure, I’d throw her paper (and made sure the paper was “porched”) but I knew that I just had to figure out a creative way how to collect the subscription fee. My mom, who was the paper-route manager said, “You will go to her house and collect for the paper subscription in person, like everyone else and stop this silly belief that she’s a witch. For the love of God, you’re ten-years old already. You need to act like the young man you are becoming.” I thought mom was crazy. But I did as she said, and I went to her house to collect the paper. I remember ringing the doorbell and waiting forever for her to answer the door. When she did, this waft of air blew through her screen door—it was a mixture of what smelled like antiseptic something-or-other and mothballs—it was the bona fide “old people smell.” And, she was leaning on a walker. Just as I was trying to take in the smells and sights, when she saw me her face lit up with a smile as wide as the Cimarron River. She said, “Why don’t just stand there boy, you’re letting out all the cool air. Come on in!” Nervously, I walked in and closed the door behind me. Standing in her living room, I noticed the old furniture and the big tufted couch with those white doilies on the ends to keep you from smudging the fabric. The place was clean though. The lady, Mrs. Hill, sat down in her chair with some effort and motioned for me to come near. She said, “Let me get my purse out and write you a check. How much will it be,” she asked. I said, “Three dollars and forty-five cents. Please make the check out to David Bocock.” She wrote the check out slowly and with a signature only a doctor could understand. Finally, she tore the check out of her checkbook and handed it to me. I wrote down her payment in my ringed book and tore out her receipt and handed it to her. I was getting nervous and ready to leave. But she’d have none of that. “So you’re the boy that also mows lawns, right?” “Yes ma’am.” She told me she needed her lawn mowed and somehow I agreed to do it. She said she’d pay me the going rate of $6. That was indeed the going rate. She also had this way of smiling that made you smile back. She told me that she moved into the house to be close to her family but she didn’t have any kids herself. She enjoyed baseball and asked me if I followed the Texas Rangers baseball team out of Dallas. I said, “Sure I do!” While that season wasn’t their best, the big news was that Ed Brinkman, a great shortstop, was purchased by the New York Yankees and would be leaving soon. Mrs. Hill offered me some chocolate chip cookies. They were in a jar and you could tell by their taste that she didn’t bake them. They were the store-bought cheap kind. But I’ve always loved those cookies and graciously accepted a handful. She said, “You’ll need some for later, why not take some more?” And I stuffed my pockets with them. Mrs. Hill and I became great friends. She was very sweet and was very generous to me and my family over the years that she lived there. I would ride on my bike by her house and wave to her as she sat in the window. I hadn’t remembered seeing her sitting there before but I always made it a point to look for her after that. She was a very sweet lady and my eyes are tearing up now as I think of her and the valuable lessons she taught me. She taught me that meeting people and getting to know them is the best way to dispel myths we create about people. She taught me how to interact with strangers and how a simple smile can open up a person’s heart. She showed me the power of chocolate chip cookies. And she taught me not to judge a book by its cover. You know, she’s not the first person to teach about that. Jesus did too. Jesus said that if you welcome a person, you’re welcoming him. He said that we are to be a welcoming people, as we share the love of God with them. Mrs. Hill shared love with me—whether it was God’s love or her love—to me it was all the same. And I loved it. And I loved her. And I know she loved me. That’s the way it’s supposed to be, right? . . Closing Prayer Let us pray… Show me how, O God, to be generously welcoming and kind—to the least of those who live among us. Keep me from being proud or thinking I am better than others. Instead, show me how to connect with others that they might feel loved. In Jesus’ name, I pray. Amen. . . Closing Praise Music “You are my Strength,” by Hillsong United. youtu.be/aGMOKBki56k . . Benediction If you are able, please say or whisper this aloud: “May the God of endurance and encouragement grant us to live in such harmony with one another, in accord with Christ Jesus, that together we may with one voice glorify our holy God by the love we share with one another. Amen.” . . Closing Thoughts I hope this service was a blessing to you today. If you liked it, let others know on Facebook or, simply share this study with them. I invite you to visit our church if you are ever in our area. Our address is the Cresskill Congregational Church, 85 Union Avenue, Cresskill, NJ. You can learn more about us by visiting our website at cresskillucc.org. This coming Sunday, I will be preach on the value of church membership. Please come back next week for a new devotion is posted every Wednesday before 12:00 Noon. If you enjoyed today’s Praybook Church, I invite you to share your experiences on your own Facebook page and then invite your friend(s) to join our Facebook page. Thank you for allowing us to spread God’s kingdom message.
Posted on: Wed, 25 Jun 2014 15:34:03 +0000
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