Called to Praise

 

⭻Prepare your heart and body for Worship

 

Greeting & Announcements
 

• We have ‘In-Person’ & ‘Online Worship’ on Sunday, October 13, 2024, at 10am.

 

• You can join our Online Worship via YouTube or Facebook. Type “Little Falls United Methodist Church” in the search window on YouTube or Facebook. Please use the link below to join in Online Worship. YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@lfumc

 

• Laity Sunday – We will observe Laity Sunday on October 20, 2024. Pete Dewes (Lay Servant) will preach on the day and church leadership will lead the worship. Join us and let us celebrate Laity Sunday together!

 

• Plan to leave home Early to come to church on Sunday, October 20, 2024. – 5K Run will be held on the day in Little Falls. Many streets will be blocked. Please use the intersection of Center Ave and Walnut Street to access to the church parking lot.

 

• Prayer Concerns & Joys – If you would like to share your concerns and joys with the congregation, please email Pastor Jin (jkim@littlefallsumc.org) or complete the online form, www.littlefallsumc.org/prayer.

 

• Altar Flowers – Thank you, Betty Caceres, for providing the Altar Flowers in Memory of Loved Ones. If you would like to offer the altar flowers, please contact Janet (973) 896-8936 or ladyteddy@aol.com. 

 

• Fellowship Time after Worship – Thank you, Ken Griffin, for hosting Coffee hour! Let us enjoy a good fellowship time every Sunday after Worship. Please help us with hosting the coffee hour. The Sign-up board is on the table in the Narthex. Please contact Cheryle or Kathy F. if you have any questions about the coffee hour.

 

• The 180th Anniversary Sunday Worship – We will have a special Sunday Worship Service to celebrate our 180th Anniversary at 10 am on Sunday, October 27, 2024.

 

• Share your story – To celebrate our 180th anniversary, share your story with the theme, “What does Little Falls UMC mean to you?” Submit your story to Pastor Jin, through email or online form soon, if you have not submitted it yet.

 

• Treasured Memories –The next meeting will be held at 7 pm on Wednesday, October 9, 2024. “Treasured Memories” is a grief group for those who have lost their loved ones. The ongoing meeting gathers every 2nd Wednesday of the month in Lee Lounge at 7 pm. Contact Allison for details (973) 800-4152. 

 

• Walk by Faith – Thank those joined us Yesterday. We will post the church flyers on the doors of our neighbors at 10 am, on November 23, 2024! Please join us and let us share the Good News with others and invite them to the church for a faith journey.

 

• Evangelism Class – Join us the next Evangelism Class session at 7 pm on October 24, 2024! Come and join us. All are Welcome! Let us learn from the class and have a conversation for our church ministry!

 

• Baked Potato Dinner – We will have our annual Baked Potato Dinner at the fellowship Hall from 5:30 pm to 7 pm on Saturday, November 2, 2024. The price of the ticket is $18 (Eat in or Take out). Contact Allison for questions or details.

 

• Online Donation – Online donation is available now. Please visit the church website and click ‘Donation.’ The link is https://www.littlefallsumc.org/donation.  Your financial support and generosity are greatly appreciated and essential for our church ministry and mission. Please consider sending your tithes and offerings to Little Falls UMC (139 Main St. Little Falls, NJ 07424). You can send your offerings and tithes to the church every week. Or you can send offerings and tithes for a month with a check. Thanks again for your generosity!

 

• Hurricane Relief Fund – We are in fundraising to help those affected by Hurricane. There will be a basket by the piano in the sanctuary where you may leave your donations until Sunday, October 20th, 2024. Cash or checks are welcome. If you are writing a check, please make it out to Little Falls United Methodist Church and note “Hurricane Relief” in the memo line. All donations will be sent to UMCOR to help those affected by the hurricanes.

 

• Shoprite Gift Card – To purchase a Shoprite gift card, contact Pete (973) 595-5765 or detroit50@aol.com.

 

• LFUMC FOOD PANTRY ITEMS NEEDED - Many families depend on the Food Pantry on a regular basis. The Pantry needs the following non-perishable items; canned vegetables, peanut butter, jelly, adult/children’s cereal, pasta & sauce, instant potatoes/rice, tuna, chicken, sardines, fruit, apple sauce, juice, and granola bars.

 

• SOCKS FOR SOULS - Do your feet get cold? Please help Unity Circle to provide new or gently used socks to the homeless. There is a constant need. Please drop off your socks in the large white sock in the Narthex. 

 

• Ongoing Collection - UMW collects postmarked stamps, can pull tabs, and the front of greeting cards (No Hallmark). Items are donated to different charities and organizations.

 

†Call to Worship

Leader: God has called all God’s people to lives of hope and service.
All: We want to serve God, but sometimes life gets to be too difficult for us.
Leader: Place your trust in God’s power and love.
All:  God understands our needs, our sorrows, and our joys.
Leader: Come, let us worship God who is with us always.
All:  Praise God for God’s eternal presence. AMEN.

 

†Praise Song                      Your Grace Is Enough               Worship & Song 3106

 

Verse 1

Great is Your faithfulness O God

You wrestle with the sinner's restless heart

You lead us by still waters into mercy

And nothing can keep us apart

 

Pre-Chorus

(So) remember Your people

Remember Your children

Remember Your promise O God

 

Chorus 1

Your grace is enough

Your grace is enough

Your grace is enough for me

 

Verse 2

Great is Your love and justice God of Jacob

You use the weak to lead the strong

You lead us in the song of Your salvation

And all Your people sing along

 

Chorus 2

Yeah Your grace is enough

Heaven reaches out to us

Your grace is enough for me

God I sing Your grace is enough

I'm covered in Your love

Your grace is enough for me for me

 

Children’s Time               God Is With Us When We Are Sad                           Job 1:1-22

 

Hymn of Prayer                           Precious Lord, Take My Hand                      UMH 474

 

1. Precious Lord, take my hand

Lead me on, let me stand,

I am tired, I am weak, I am worn;

Through the storm, through the night,

Lead me on to the light:

Take my hand, precious Lord, lead me home.

 

2. When my way grows drear,

Precious Lord, linger near,

When my life is almost gone,

Hear my cry, hear my call,

Hold my hand lest I fall:

Take my hand, precious Lord, lead me home.

 

3. When the darkness appears

And the night draws near,

And the day is past and gone,

At the river I stand,

Guide my feet, hold my hand:

Take my hand, precious Lord, lead me home.

 

Pausing for Silent Prayer and Confession

 

Prayers of the People (Response: God, in Your Mercy, hear our prayers.)

God of infinite patience and wisdom, we come to you with so many things that claim our time, our energy, our resources, our very lives. We are easily drawn away from serving you by the enticements of the world for wealth, ease, and comfort. Just like the young man in the scriptures, we are owned by our possessions, held captive by our treasures. You continue to offer to us healing and hope. You seek to transform our lives from captivity to freedom in witness and service. We look at the world in which there is so very much warfare and strife, anger and hatred, and we easily become overwhelmed by the needs and the stresses. Help us to place our lives and our trust in you, knowing that with your help, many wonderful things can be accomplished which will provide hope and peace for others and ourselves. Give us courage and strength to truly be your disciples. For we ask this in Jesus’ Name. AMEN.

 

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. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil, for thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever. Amen.

 

Called to the Word

Prayer for Illumination   

 

Leader: Lord, open our hearts and minds by the power of your Holy Spirit, that, as the Scriptures are read and your Word proclaimed, we may hear with joy what you say to us today. 

All: Amen

 

NT Lesson                                                   Hebrews 4:12-16

 

12 Indeed, the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing until it divides soul from spirit, joints from marrow; it is able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart. 13 And before him no creature is hidden, but all are naked and laid bare to the eyes of the one to whom we must render an account.

 

14 Since, then, we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast to our confession. 15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who in every respect has been tested as we are, yet without sin. 16 Let us therefore approach the throne of grace with boldness, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

 

 

This ends the New Testament Lesson. 
Let us turn to the Gospel Lesson. Please stand, if able.

 

†Gospel Lesson                                         Mark 10:17-31

 

The Rich Man

17 As he was setting out on a journey, a man ran up and knelt before him and asked him, “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” 18 Jesus said to him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good but God alone. 19 You know the commandments: ‘You shall not murder. You shall not commit adultery. You shall not steal. You shall not bear false witness. You shall not defraud. Honor your father and mother.’ ” 20 He said to him, “Teacher, I have kept all these since my youth.” 21 Jesus, looking at him, loved him and said, “You lack one thing; go, sell what you own, and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me.” 22 When he heard this, he was shocked and went away grieving, for he had many possessions.

23 Then Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, “How hard it will be for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God!” 24 And the disciples were perplexed at these words. But Jesus said to them again, “Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God! 25 It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.” 26 They were greatly astounded and said to one another, “Then who can be saved?” 27 Jesus looked at them and said, “For mortals it is impossible, but not for God; for God all things are possible.”

28 Peter began to say to him, “Look, we have left everything and followed you.”29 Jesus said, “Truly I tell you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields for my sake and for the sake of the good news 30 who will not receive a hundredfold now in this age—houses, brothers and sisters, mothers and children, and fields, with persecutions—and in the age to come eternal life. 31 But many who are first will be last, and the last will be first.”

 

This is the word of God for the people of God. 

All: Thanks be to God.

 

Message                               Walking Towards Perfection                          Rev. Jin Kook Kim

 

Good morning, Church Family! I hope you had a blessed week in God’s love and grace last week. Last Sunday, we considered ‘following God’s will is following God’s word, putting our hearts on it, and knowing God’s intention for the word. Pharisees distorted God’s will and abused it for what they wanted. They thought they observed God’s will and they were righteous and faithful. However, Jesus said they were not righteous and didn’t follow God’s will because they didn’t carry out God’s intention for God’s word rather they were against God’s will by following God in their ways. Church family, let us carry out God’s word and God’s will in accordance with God’s intention for the word. Let us put our hearts into whatever God’s will and ministry we carry out. Let us follow God’s will by carrying out God’s will according to God’s intention.

 

We have considered the meaning of following God’s will for four Sundays with the themes: Follow God’s will with gratitude, Follow God’s will even if we don’t understand, Follow God’s will is better for us, and Follow God’s will, putting our hearts on it. Today, I want us to consider another aspect and meaning of following God’s will as the last theme: Following God’s will, walking toward perfection.

 

When I was an international Student at Drew Seminary, I had to prepare many documents for a driver’s license. The mandatory documents included proof of the residential address, Social Security Card, and identity documents and I needed at least three identity documents to verify my identity. The staff of MVC checked all required documents that people brought, using the checklist at the door, and turned people away if they missed any documents even if they missed only one document. Only those who had all the mandatory documents were able to get into the building and started the process after a long wait. Some of my friends who went to MVC with me couldn’t get in because they missed a document or a couple of documents although they thought they had enough documents. They had to come to MVC again later. MVC is not only a place that requires you to have something to get in. To get into a gym, you should have a membership. To get into the airport, you should have an ID and a ticket.

 

How about the kingdom of God? How about inheriting eternal life? What do you need to get into the kingdom of God? What do we need to inherit eternal life? Do you think you have everything or are you enough to inherit eternal life? Or not?

 

In today’s scripture, a young man came to Jesus and asked, “What must I do to inherit eternal life?”  for eternal life. Jesus said, you know all commandments so keep those. And he gave him some examples of commandments that were in the Ten Commandments, such as ‘You shall not murder. You shall not commit adultery. You shall not steal. You shall not bear false witness. You shall not defraud. Honor your father and mother.’ Isn’t that like Jesus gave him a checklist? After listening, the young man said, “I have kept all these since my youth.” That was like he checked everything on the list and he was confident that he observed everything so he was qualified to inherit eternal life. However, Jesus pointed out one thing that he needed to do. That was to sell everything he had, give the money to the poor, and follow Jesus. He had just one more thing to inherit eternal life. He could check all the lists and complete all if he followed Jesus’ word. However, he went away grieving for he had many possessions.

 

This story shows us that following God’s will is not following a part of God’s word or almost God’s word, but all of God’s word as we need to have all required documents to process it at MVC. The young man had completed almost everything on the list as he said, “I kept all these since my youth.” Maybe he would think that he was enough to inherit eternal life because following all commandments was a great job that needed a lot of effort and requirements, and he completed those. However, Jesus said, “You are not enough. You lack one thing.” After he left, Jesus told his disciples, “Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God! It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.” A camel cannot go through the eye of a needle. It is impossible. No one can make it. God requires perfect submission, not partial but full submission to God. This is not all about money but everything that we have: time, energy, strength, thought, perspective, and even life which we cannot give up for perfect submission which makes us not follow God’s will fully. Through this word, Jesus stressed that no one can inherit eternal life by their power or ability. No one can make full and  perfect submission. For us, following God’s will is the same. We cannot follow God’s will fully and perfectly by our power or ability.

 

Then, who can inherit eternal life? In fact, this was the question of the disciples when they were shocked after hearing Jesus’ word. Jesus answered, “For mortals it is impossible, but not for God; for God all things are possible.” This shows us that it is all God’s grace that we can inherit eternal life. Although we cannot make it, God can make it for us. Although we are short for eternal life, God gives us eternal life with God’s grace and mercy. For us, following God’s will is the same. We cannot make perfect submission to follow God’s will fully and perfectly, but our gracious God helps us and leads us to make us progress each time in our faith journey. Think about this. We have considered following God’s will for last four weeks and we learned that we should follow God’s will with gratitude, putting our hearts on it, even if we don’t understand God’s will fully or it requires huge sacrifice. How can we follow God’s will in those ways by our power and ability? Is there anyone who can make it? Like the young man, we would like to think we are enough in terms of following God’s will. If so, Jesus will say to us, “You are not enough. You lack one thing or many things.”

 

Don’t be afraid of Jesus’ word. Don’t be disappointed to hear that we are not enough. Jesus is not judging us but tries to lead us to progress and grow in faith. Do you know how Jesus thought about the young man? In the Bible, it is described that “Jesus, looking at him, loved him and said.” Jesus knew his heart and his efforts to keep all commandments. Jesus saw his pure and sincere heart for following God’s will so Jesus loved him and wanted to lead him to grow more by giving a direction to him. Jesus does the same thing to us. Jesus leads us to perfection in faith. Jesus encourages us to go to the next step in our faith journey. Jesus invites us to walk with him together to follow God’s will fully and perfectly saying, “Follow me.”

 

Church family,

Following God’s will is not easy but hard. It is like entering through a narrow gate and walking on a hard road. However, as Jesus said in Matthew 7:13-14, “Enter through the narrow gate, for the gate is wide and the road is easy] that leads to destruction, and there are many who take it. 14 For the gate is narrow and the road is hard that leads to life, and there are few who find it” Following God’s will will lead us to life in God. I hope all of us choose to follow God’s will although it is hard because it leads us to life. Jesus invites us to life and walks with him toward perfection in faith, saying “Follow me!” Let us follow Jesus and let us walk with Jesus on this hard road toward life. God will help us lead us and strengthen us every step of our faith. Amen.

 

Called to Share

Response to Our Generous God 

 

 †Doxology                 Praise God, From Whom All Blessings Flow        UMH 95

 

Praise God, from whom all blessings flow;

Praise Him, all creatures here below;

Praise Him above, ye heav’nly host;

Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost!

 

†Prayer of Dedication

All: Gracious God, you are our provider and sustainer. We bring our gifts today, mindful of your abundant love and mercy. As we offer these tithes and offerings, we ask that you remind us of the call to let go of our earthly attachments and follow you wholeheartedly. Bless these gifts and use them to further your kingdom on earth, so that all may experience your grace and love. May our giving reflect our trust in you and our commitment to serve others. In Jesus' name, we pray. Amen.

 

Called to the World

 

†Closing Hymn                            O Jesus, I Have Promised                                UMH 396

 

1. O Jesus, I have promised 
to serve thee to the end; 
be thou forever near me, 
my Master and my friend. 
I shall not fear the battle 
if thou art by my side, 
nor wander from the pathway 
if thou wilt be my guide. 

 

2. O let me feel thee near me! 
The world is ever near; 
I see the sights that dazzle, 
the tempting sounds I hear; 
my foes are ever near me, 
around me and within; 
but Jesus, draw thou nearer, 
and shield my soul from sin. 

 

3. O let me hear thee speaking 
in accents clear and still, 
above the storms of passion, 
the murmurs of self-will. 
O speak to reassure me, 
to hasten or control; 
O speak, and make me listen, 
thou guardian of my soul. 

 

4. O Jesus, thou hast promised 
to all who follow thee 
that where thou art in glory 
there shall thy servant be. 
And Jesus, I have promised 
to serve thee to the end; 
O give me grace to follow, 
my Master and my Friend.

 

†Benediction                                                                                             Rev. Jin Kook Kim

The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you; the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace. The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you.  Amen.

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