Elements from this morning’s gathering

Call to Worship | Psalm 104

Praise the Lord, oh my soul!

God, my God, how great you are!
Beautifully robed, dressed up in sunshine, and all heaven stretched out for your tent.
You built your palace on the ocean deeps,
made a chariot out of clouds and took off on the wind.

God’s trees are well-watered — the Lebanon cedars he planted.
Birds build their nests in those trees; look—the stork at home in the treetop.
Mountain goats climb about the cliffs; badgers burrow among the rocks.
The moon keeps track of the seasons, the sun is in charge of each day.
When it’s dark and night takes over, all the forest creatures come out.
The young lions roar for their prey, clamoring to God for their supper.

What a wildly wonderful world, God!
You made it all, with Wisdom at your side,
made earth overflow with your wonderful creations.

There is the sea, vast and spacious, teeming with creatures beyond number—
living things both large and small.
There the ships go to and fro,
and Leviathan, which you formed to frolic there.

All creatures look to you to give them their food at the proper time.
When you give it to them, they gather it up;
when you open your hand, they are satisfied with good things.
When you hide your face, they are terrified;
when you take away their breath, they die and return to the dust.
When you send your Spirit, they are created,
and you renew the face of the ground.

Scripture Reading

A Reading from the Gospel of Matthew
Matthew 4:17, 6:19-33

From that time Jesus began to announce: “Change your hearts and lives! Here comes the kingdom of heaven!”… 

Don’t store up treasures here on earth, where moths eat them and rust destroys them, and where thieves break in and steal. Store your treasures in the heavens, where moths and rust cannot destroy, and thieves do not break in and steal. Wherever your treasure is, there the desires of your heart will also be. 

Your eye is like a lamp that provides light for your body. When your eye is healthy, your whole body is filled with light. But when your eye is unhealthy, your whole body is filled with darkness. And if the light you think you have is actually darkness, how deep that darkness is!

No one can serve two masters. For you will hate one and love the other; you will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.

That is why I tell you not to worry about everyday life—whether you have enough food and drink, or enough clothes to wear. Isn’t life more than food, and your body more than clothing? Look at the birds. They don’t plant or harvest or store food in barns, for your heavenly Father feeds them. And aren’t you far more valuable to him than they are? Can all your worries add a single moment to your life?

And why worry about your clothing? Look at the lilies of the field and how they grow. They don’t work or make their clothing, yet Solomon in all his glory was not dressed as beautifully as they are. And if God cares so wonderfully for wildflowers that are here today and thrown into the fire tomorrow, he will certainly care for you. Why do you have so little faith?

So don’t worry about these things, saying, ‘What will we eat? What will we drink? What will we wear?’ These things dominate the desires of the nations, but your Father in the heavens already knows all you want and need.

Desire the Kingdom of God above all else, and live right by God and others, and God will give you everything you need.