Special Service for Our Graduates – 2024
Abridge Worship Provided By: Ken Draper (Please note that this is not a verbatim account of our Sunday morning worship, but rather a condensed version for those at home to study and enjoy, Blessing)
Opening Prayer:
We come and go in life, but you God are eternal.
The season change, our roles develop, and our mind widen and narrow.
Help us celebrate those in our world who have complete trials of educational growth, and help them embrace a their future, and let those of us who have experienced these trials and new challenges in our past, be the good support in the lives of new venturers.
Amen.
Scripture Readings: 1 Samuel 8:4-11, 16-20 ; Mark 3: 20-35
1 Samuel 8:4-11, 16-20
So all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah. They said to him, “You are old, and your sons do not follow your ways; now appoint a king to lead us, such as all the other nations have.”
But when they said, “Give us a king to lead us,” this displeased Samuel; so he prayed to the Lord. And the Lord told him: “Listen to all that the people are saying to you; it is not you they have rejected, but they have rejected me as their king. As they have done from the day I brought them up out of Egypt until this day, forsaking me and serving other gods, so they are doing to you. Now listen to them; but warn them solemnly and let them know what the king who will reign over them will claim as his rights.”
Samuel told all the words of the Lord to the people who were asking him for a king. He said, “This is what the king who will reign over you will claim as his rights: He will take your sons and make them serve with his chariots and horses, and they will run in front of his chariots.
Your male and female servants and the best of your cattle and donkeys he will take for his own use. He will take a tenth of your flocks, and you yourselves will become his slaves. When that day comes, you will cry out for relief from the king you have chosen, but the Lord will not answer you in that day.”
1But the people refused to listen to Samuel. “No!” they said. “We want a king over us. Then we will be like all the other nations, with a king to lead us and to go out before us and fight our battles.”
Mark 3:20-35
20 Then Jesus entered a house, and again a crowd gathered, so that he and his disciples were not even able to eat. 21 When his family[a] heard about this, they went to take charge of him, for they said, “He is out of his mind.”
22 And the teachers of the law who came down from Jerusalem said, “He is possessed by Beelzebul! By the prince of demons he is driving out demons.”
23 So Jesus called them over to him and began to speak to them in parables: “How can Satan drive out Satan? 24 If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. 25 If a house is divided against itself, that house cannot stand. 26 And if Satan opposes himself and is divided, he cannot stand; his end has come. 27 In fact, no one can enter a strong man’s house without first tying him up. Then he can plunder the strong man’s house. 28 Truly I tell you, people can be forgiven all their sins and every slander they utter, 29 but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven; they are guilty of an eternal sin.”
30 He said this because they were saying, “He has an impure spirit.”
31 Then Jesus’ mother and brothers arrived. Standing outside, they sent someone in to call him. 32 A crowd was sitting around him, and they told him, “Your mother and brothers are outside looking for you.”
33 “Who are my mother and my brothers?” he asked.
34 Then he looked at those seated in a circle around him and said, “Here are my mother and my brothers! 35 Whoever does God’s will is my brother and sister and mother.”
Reflection:
Have you ever had the job of hiring a new individual to be part of your team? It can be a daunting task as what you see in the interview is not what you get when they begin work. I have said on occasion the best day’s work we got from an employee was their job interview. God was probably there looking over my shoulder and directing me on who to select, but unlike Samuel I missed his signal. Thankfully Samuel paid attention and waited on the right candidate, David to become King.
I do remember one individual I interviewed and he said his boss from two jobs ago was nice but then he became an idiot, his last boss was great in the beginning and he became a jerk. I decided at that point that I was not going to become something greater than a jerk or an idiot at least to this individual and so I did not hire him. Our readings this morning all show how God is present in our lives and how he offers us direction whether we are hiring staff, choosing a school to attend or becoming a father.
From our reading from 1 Samuel we learned that God was not happy with Saul as King because he did not follow God’s instruction. Saul started out so humble that upon being made King, he went back home and started working the field with his oxen. But power corrupts and it wasn’t long before Saul thought himself indestructible.
God instructed Samuel that Saul could no longer be King and he sent Saul off to Jesse and God told Samuel that from his son’s he would appoint a King. Samuel met with each of Jesse’s boys and interviewed them but God said no to each of them as Saul’s successor. Samuel asked if there was another son and Jesse said I have one more out tending to the sheep. Samuel said go bring him to us and will not sit until he arrives.
Jesse’s youngest son arrived and he did not disappoint. It reads, “he was glowing with health and had a fine appearance and handsome features”. Then the Lord said, “rise and appoint him, this is the one”. So Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the presence of his brothers, and from that day on the Spirit of the Lord came powerfully upon David. What a powerful statement, the Spirit of the Lord came powerfully, no not a light touch but powerfully upon David.
You might say David had it all and in our time he would grace the internet with his handsome features and his musical ability.
The lesson here for us and to the graduates is that God has a plan for each of us. Ephesians 2:10 reads he calls us God’s masterpiece, created to do good things He planned for us long ago. I urge you to impress this piece of scripture upon your heart and know that no matter what others say you are a masterpiece to God. If you continue to read Samuel you will know that David made mistakes. I and others here today have made mistakes in our lives but we should not let that be what defines us.
David was out tending the sheep and while there he became a marksman with a slingshot, an ability that served him well a little later on in his story. He was a musician and learned to play the harp. David was preparing himself for the future just as you have been doing in high school and if you go on university or community college, this will be providing you with further preparation for your career. David practiced with his slingshot and he became the best he could be and as we recall from our childhood Bible stories with one shot he overcame Goliath. Just as David was interviewed for his next step, so too are each of us auditioning or the next chapter in our lives.
Although Saul lost favour with God, he played a very important role in David’s
life. He became a mentor for David. Many of us here have had the honour to be mentor’s to people in their lives and it is one of life’s best gifts when an individual shares with you the impact you have had in their lives. Knowing you impacted someone’s life in a positive way is a beautiful gift to receive. So Audrey, Emma, Lukas, Zachery and Marc, I trust that you will one day look back and give thanks to the Mentors in your life and equally important, you become a mentor to others. As we journey through life, we find ourselves reflecting back on what has transpired and how it impacted us. I believe one of those times of reflection is when we graduate high school. We think of the teachers both good and bad who made a difference in our lives; we think of our classmates and the great friendships we made and we think of how our parents and family shaped us as we passed through our school years.
Paul could have been speaking directly to our graduates when he wrote his second letter to the Corinthians. I like what Paul said; cramped conditions here don’t get us down, they only remind us of the spacious living conditions ahead. What a great way of saying there are going to be ruts in the road, we are going to make mistakes and some unfortunate things will happen to us as we journey through life. In Matthew Jesus said you will suffer trials and tribulations. Keep in mind that good times do return and as Paul stated the living conditions ahead are spacious. Paul understood that life can be challenging but our place is with Christ and is a phenomenal reward for our journey.
Each of us here must follow our hearts. What is it that you still want to accomplish in your life? There will be people who will distract you and try to discourage you but my suggestion is react to your distracters as Jesus did. When Jesus began preaching in the synagogue in his home town of Nazareth, family and the townspeople threatened him. They took Jesus to a mountaintop threatening to through him off the mountain but he walked right through him and went on his way. I also share with you what Jesus shared with his disciples in Matthew 10 and whosoever shall not receive you, nor hear your words, when ye depart out of that house or city; shake off the dust of your feet”. In other words do not let your detractors get you down, hold your head up high and keep moving forward. Know Jesus walks with you every step of the way.
If Jesus was here with us this morning what might he say to us. I expect he would start off by saying how special each of us is to him and especially Audrey, Emma, Lukas. Zachery and Marc. He would ask each of us to love ourselves and then with a glint in his eye would say love your neighbour as you love yourself. He would ask us to forgive those who trespass against us. Jesus would remind us that he invites the children to come unto him and included in that invitation would be you and me. Jesus would invite each of us to walk in the truth. Be true to ourselves, be true to our families, be true to our friends and be true to Jesus. Jesus would invite each of us to celebrate in the gifts God has given us. God did not give each of us the same gifts, such as Jason’s gift of music, but maybe he gave you the gift of counsel, the gift of being creative with your hands or gift of working with the soil and just as everything came from water and soil so to, do we create gardens from the beautiful flowers God has created. God has created each of us as
perfect flowers, each of us different in some ways but still full of beauty.
As you graduates go out into the world with new beginnings and each of us go out accepting we still have much to offer, so let us remember what the apostle Paul spoke in Hebrews as written in the message, “Do you see what this means—all these pioneers who blazed the way, all these veterans cheering us on? It means we’d better get on with it. Strip down, start running—and never quit! No extra spiritual fat, no parasitic sins. Keep your eyes on Jesus, who both began and finished this race we’re in. Study how did he do it; for he never lost sight of where he was headed—that exhilarating finish in and with God—he could put up with anything along the way: Cross, shame, whatever. And now he’s there, in the place of honor, right alongside God. When you find yourselves flagging in your faith, go over that story again, item by item, that long litany of hostility he plowed through. That will shoot adrenaline into your souls” and You will be the child God knows
you are.
I will close this morning with a story I read from Anne Landers many years ago
and it goes like this. A lady in her forties wrote to Ann Landers and stated that she was considering going back to school to become a nurse but she was concerned that being in her mid-forties she was too old. Miss Landers wrote back, I do not know if in four years you will be a nurse or not but I do know you will be four years older. In other words the next four years are going to pass and you have to decide if you will be a nurse. Some of us here today can use this advice for when we get older we say we are too old to do something new. Next year this time you will be a year older, you have to decide what you will do with the next twelve months.
Let us celebrate our successes and go fervently into the future.
May it be so!
Let us pray…
God, may your extraordinary power lead all of us on the journey of faith, live and new direction by your will. Help all the young souls to trust in You, Your Way, and Your plan for our lives. Amen.
Homework:
Celebrate with those who have found success and accomplishment!
If you need help on this reflective journey email: minister@mountainviewunited.ca
Closing Prayer:
God is Good, life can be good with God, we can be good with God too! Amen.
Meme of the Week:
Thank you for joining us this week. If you have any thoughts, feelings, or prayers, feel free to leave them in the comment section below. Please be respectful of others’ posts and make room for all those joining us.
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