The United Methodist Committee on Relief is one of the “best things Methodists do,” according to many people around the world. UMCOR is known for its quick and effective response to natural disasters in every part of the globe. I have personally been on mission trips where UMCOR is present to help with the cleanup, planning, and recovery in the aftermath of hurricanes and floods. I have seen first-hand the dedication, training, and recovery work that is possible.

When the Marshall Fire struck 1000 homes and 6000 acres in northern Colorado in December 2021, UMCOR provided immediate emergency assistance and continued restoration funding in the following year. Because UMCOR is one of the most tangible ways we, as United Methodists, live out our faith in the world, we at St. Paul's UMC have decided that 100% of our March Mission AND Easter Offering will support this incredible and essential work.

Just as the message of Easter is about restoring life after death, the work done through UMCOR helps restore people's lives after tragedy has struck. I encourage you to give generously this month to aid in the work of restoration and resurrection - here in Colorado and worldwide.

~Missions Committee

Memorial Service
Friday, March 15, 2024
11:00 am
Reception to follow

Each communion Sunday thereafter we will have a basket for those who feel called to give above and beyond their pledge. This "second-mile" giving will help fund the pastor's discretionary fund, which helps meet community needs as they arise, such as gas, lodging, clothing, etc. Feel free to bring your spare cash and change to help make a change in the lives of those in need.

Prelude
Stephanie Shorden

Welcome
Rev. David Petty

Threshold Moment
Rev. David Petty

Leader: Each week of this Lent season, we are focusing on ways that we can practice a counter-cultural theology that emphasizes the beauty and grace of the reality of life-right-now rather than waiting with increasing judgment to reach some vision of a perfected existence. Our ladder-climbing efforts sometimes end up taking us down a rung or two as things don’t work out just right. And so let us continue to turn ladders into gardens, nurturing our souls and embracing our holy, “good enough,” lives.
 
Threshold Song
Good Enough (Repeat)
Dominick Nors

What in our lives
do we dream 
about for tomorrow, 
void of sorrow?
 
Time spent regretting 
decisions of our yesterdays, 
mistakes we made?
 
Sometimes we get what we get,
life disappoints us and yet,
God is still here and somehow, 
this faith is good enough.

Calling on God Prayer      Jackie Fletcher

Leader: Let us pray together:
People: Holy One, God of Forgiveness, we call out to you and and you surround us with deliverance. You love us infinitely more than we love ourselves or others. Open us this day to your counsel, helping us be more merciful, more grace-filled, so that we might rejoice in simple and good enough moments that fill our days. Amen.
 
*Opening Hymn         TFWS #2008
Let All Things Now Living
 
1. Let all things now living
a song of thanksgiving
to God the Creator
triumphantly raise,  
 
who fashioned and made us,
protected and stayed us,
who guides us and leads
to the end of our days.
 
God’s banners fly o’er us;
God’s light goes before us,
a pillar of fire
shining forth in the night,
 
2. The law God enforces,
the stars in their courses
and sun in its orbit
obediently shine;
 
the hills and the mountains,
the rivers and fountains,
the deeps of the ocean
proclaim the Divine.
 
We, too, should be voicing
our love and rejoicing;
with glad adoration
a song let us raise,
 
till all things now living
unite in thanksgiving:
To God in the highest
hosanna and praise!
 
*Passing the Peace of Christ

Mystery Box
Rev. David Petty

Honest Questions, Compassionate Response
Jackie Fletcher

Today we will hear how the Prodigal Son lives high on the hog and then famine strikes in the land of his dream vacation. And so he heads home, tail between his legs, expecting that he has lost it all. To his surprise, his extravagant failure is met with extravagant love and grace. We can be pretty hard on ourselves when things don’t go as planned. Guilt, shame, and fear of being seen as a failure can leave us wallowing in the pig pen. Our delusions of a perfectible life keep us disappointed in ourselves. Truth is, life is a big ole risk every single day and facing whatever each day holds is not only good enough, but worthy of love and grace. Do you find yourself being unrealistically hard on yourself? Let us take a moment of silent reflection…
 
Silent Reflection

Leader: Hear this compassionate word from the Second Letter to the Corinthians: “From now on, therefore, we regard no one from a human point of view; even though we once knew Christ from a human point of view, we know him no longer in that way. So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new!”
Know that already, God is offering us freedom from the guilt and shame of our past failings and our present unrealistic expectations. We are invited to rejoice that each day is a new beginning, so that we might enjoy, and not dread, the life before us.
And know, that despite our sometimes faltering steps, in the name of Jesus Christ, you are being forgiven, even now.
 
People: In the name of Jesus Christ, you are forgiven. Glory to God! Amen.

Gospel Reading       Luke 15:1-3, 11b-32
Jackie Fletcher

Now all the tax collectors and sinners were coming near to listen to him. And the Pharisees and the scribes were grumbling and saying, “This fellow welcomes sinners and eats with them.” So he told them this parable:
 
“There was a man who had two sons. The younger of them said to his father, 'Father, give me the share of the property that will belong to me.' So he divided his property between them. A few days later the younger son gathered all he had and traveled to a distant country, and there he squandered his property in dissolute living.
 
“When he had spent everything, a severe famine took place throughout that country, and he began to be in need. So he went and hired himself out to one of the citizens of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed the pigs. He would gladly have filled himself with the pods that the pigs were eating; and no one gave him anything. But when he came to himself he said, 'How many of my father's hired hands have bread enough and to spare, but here I am dying of hunger! I will get up and go to my father, and I will say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you; I am no longer worthy to be called your son; treat me like one of your hired hands.”’
 
“So he set off and went to his father. But while he was still far off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion; he ran and put his arms around him and kissed him. Then the son said to him, 'Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you; I am no longer worthy to be called your son.'
 
“But the father said to his slaves, 'Quickly, bring out a robe—the best one—and put it on him; put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. And get the fatted calf and kill it, and let us eat and celebrate; for this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found!' And they began to celebrate.
 
“Now his elder son was in the field; and when he came and approached the house, he heard music and dancing. He called one of the slaves and asked what was going on. He replied, 'Your brother has come, and your father has killed the fatted calf, because he has got him back safe and sound.’ Then he became angry and refused to go in. His father came out and began to plead with him. But he answered his father, 'Listen! For all these years I have been working like a slave for you, and I have never disobeyed your command; yet you have never given me even a young goat so that I might celebrate with my friends. But when this son of yours came back, who has devoured your property with prostitutes, you killed the fatted calf for him!'
 
"Then the father said to him, 'Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours. But we had to celebrate and rejoice, because this brother of yours was dead and has come to life; he was lost and has been found.’"
A Word of God that is still speaking,
 
People: Thanks be to God.

Prayer for Illumination

Leader: May the words of my mouth,
People: and the meditations of all of our hearts
All: be acceptable in your sight, O Lord our rock and our redeemer.
Psalm 19:14

Message
We Often Believe We Are the Problem
Rev. David Petty

Prayer of the People     Jackie Fletcher

(Sung)
Though all along 
our daily pilgrim race
our treasures small 
and very few may be,
our souls are blest 
with God’s unending grace,
and that is enough, enough for me.

Oh, that’s enough for me,
God’s truth has 
set me free;
the love of Christ 
has sanctified my soul,
and that is enough for me.

Leader: Blaming is a typical human behavior. We’ve talked about those times when we blame ourselves harshly, and we know we often turn the blame on others. A particular attitude of blaming happens in a culture that has identified “goodness” with “boot-strapping effort.” So many who are victims of systematized oppression are blamed for their own circumstances. They end up being deprived of just resolutions to the deprivation that results from unjust systems. As individuals, as a society, and as a church, we must work to eradicate this kind of blaming and its resulting layers of suffering.
 
(Sung)
When food and raiment 
are not ever sure, 
and simple fare 
is hard to get for some,
we work to share our 
goods with one and all, 
and that is enough, enough for me.
 
Oh, that’s enough for me,
God’s truth 
has set me free;
a love like Christ’s 
is meant for ev’ry soul,
and that is enough for me.
 
The Lord's Prayer

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. 
 
Lead us not 
into temptation 
but deliver us from evil. 
For Thine is the Kingdom, 
and the Power 
and the Glory forever.
Amen

Invitation to Offering          Jackie Fletcher

Offertory                               Sanctuary Choir

Prayer of Thanksgiving
Rev. David Petty

Generous God,
in light of your extravagant blessings–
no matter what the state of the world or our imperfect lives–
we offer our gifts and ourselves,
and know that you transform what we plant
into the produce of love.
Amen.

*Doxology
Praise God from Whom all Blessings Flow
 
Praise God, from whom 
all blessings flow; 
Praise God, all creatures 
here below: Alleluia! Alleluia! 
 
Praise God, the source 
of all our gifts! 
Praise Jesus Christ, 
whose power uplifts! 
 
Praise the Spirit, 
Holy Spirit! 
Alleluia! Alleluia! 
Alleluia!

*A Blessing for Becoming Real
Rev. David Petty

"Blessed are you who do not despise your realness.
It may hurt. You may not recognize yourself in the mirror.
But this is what we hoped for, right?
To live and love. To be loved.
To have our experiences show on our faces and in our cells.
It is the real life of Jesus in us, being made visible, as all our seams show.”

*Hymn                    UMH # 383
This is a Day of New Beginnings

1. This is a day
of new beginnings,
time to remember
and move on,
 
time to believe
what love is bringing,
laying to rest
the pain that’s gone.
 
2. For by the life
and death of Jesus,
God’s mighty Spirit,
now as then,
 
can make for us
a world of difference,
as faith and hope
are born again.
 
3. Then let us,
with the Spirit daring,
step from the past
and leave behind
 
our disappointments,
guilt, and grieving,
seeking new paths,
and sure to find.
 
4. Christ is alive,
and goes before us
to show and share
what love can do.
 
This is a day
of new beginnings;
our God is making
all things new.
 
5. In faith we’ll gather
round the table
to taste and share
what love can do.
 
This is a day
of new beginnings;
our God is making
all things new.

*Benediction            Rev. David Petty

And now, may the God who loves all of creation, especially the broken bits, and Jesus, our companion along this crooked path called life, and the Holy Spirit, who loves to improvise in surprising ways, go with you, dwell among you, and give you joy. Amen.

(Sung)
God is still here and somehow, this faith is good enough.

Postlude        Stephanie Shorden

Thank you Stephanie for the music! You will be missed.