Called to Praise

 

⭻Prepare your heart and body for Worship

 

Greeting & Announcements
 

• We have ‘In-Person’ & ‘Online Worship’ on Sunday, August 17, 2025, 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

 

• 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, Jeff and Katy Palmer for providing Altar flowers, in memory of Neal, Jeff’s brother. 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 the 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.

 

• Walk by Faith – We will post the church flyers on the doors of our neighbors at 10 am, on August 23, 2025! Please join us and let us share the Good News with others and invite them to the church for a faith journey.

 

• Treasured Memories –The next meeting will be held at 7 pm on Wednesday, September 10, 2025. “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.

 

• 2025-2026 Kids & Youths for Christ - Register Now! - ‘Kids & Youths For Christ’ is a fun Thursday night program for children (K-12th). We will have Christian education and fun activities such as games, crafts, cooking, biking, movies, mini sports, service projects, etc. The program will be held every first and third Thursday from 5:00 - 6:30 p.m. The first day is September 18, 2025, and the last day will be June 4, 2026. This program is free of charge and open to all students. Everyone is welcome. Sign up now at the church website and spread the word to your neighbors!

 

• 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!

 

• 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.

 

• School Supply Drive – The UMW is collecting School Supplies on behalf of Oasis (a Haven for women and children), and Child Focus (Passaic County CASA). Donation can be made until Sunday, August 17th! If you’d like to make a monetary donation, please see Janet D. or Melissa D.

 

• 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 stamp and can pull tabs. Items are donated to different charities and organizations.

 

†Call to Worship

Leader: Come, people of God, and plant yourselves in the presence of the Lord.

People: For what we sow in God’s Spirit will bear fruit in God’s time.

Leader: Even the smallest seed of faith can grow into a shelter of grace.

People: Even the smallest act of love can transform the world.

Leader: Let us sow seeds of hope, kindness, and truth.

People: And we will reap a harvest of joy, peace, and life in the Spirit.

Leader: Come, let us worship the Lord of the harvest!

All: We come with open hearts, ready to sow and to grow in Christ.

 

†Praise Song                                  How Great Is Our God              Worship and Song 3003 

 

1. The splendor of a King, clothed in majesty 
Let all the Earth rejoice 
All the Earth rejoice 

He wraps himself in light 
And darkness tries to hide 
And trembles at His voice 
Trembles at His voice 

 

[Chorus] 

How great is our God, sing with me 
How great is our God, and all will see 
How great, how great is our God 

 

2. Age to age He stands 
And time is in His hands 
Beginning and the end 
Beginning and the end 

The Godhead Three in One 
Father Spirit Son 
The Lion and the Lamb 
The Lion and the Lamb [Chorus] 

 

[Bridge] 

Name above all names 
Worthy of our praise 
My heart will sing 
How great is our God [Chorus] 

 

Children’s Time                                                                           Lay Servant, Ken Griffin

                                                           

 

Hymn of Prayer                           Seek Ye First                     UMH 405

 

1. Seek ye first the kingdom of God 
And His righteousness; 
And all these things shall be added unto you. 
Hallelu, Hallelujah! 

 

2. Ask, and it shall be given unto you; 
Seek, and you shall find. 
Knock, and it shall be opened unto you. 
Hallelu, Hallelujah! 

 

Pausing for Silent Prayer and Confession

 

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

Loving God, You are the Lord of the harvest, and we thank You for every blessing— for answered prayers, for health restored, for love shared, and for the joy of being together in worship. We also bring You our concerns— for those who are sick or in pain, for the lonely and grieving, for those facing financial struggles or uncertain futures. Surround them with Your peace, comfort, and strength. Help us to sow seeds of faith, hope, and love in our words and actions. Give us patience and trust to wait for the good fruit You will bring in Your time. We pray this in the name of Jesus Christ. 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                                                   Galatians 6:7–10

7 Do not be deceived; God is not mocked, for you reap whatever you sow. 8 If you sow to your own flesh, you will reap corruption from the flesh, but if you sow to the Spirit, you will reap eternal life from the Spirit. 9 So let us not grow weary in doing what is right, for we will reap at harvest time, if we do not give up. 10 So then, whenever we have an opportunity, let us work for the good of all and especially for those of the family of faith.

 

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

 

†Gospel Lesson                             Matthew 13:31–33

31 He put before them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed that someone took and sowed in his field; 32 it is the smallest of all the seeds, but when it has grown it is the greatest of shrubs and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and make nests in its branches.”

33 He told them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like yeast that a woman took and mixed in with three measures of flour until all of it was leavened.”

 

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

All: Thanks be to God.

 

Message                                           Sow Spiritual Ones                               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 talked about Joy. God gives us joys each day every moment, but we sometimes don’t rejoice or fully rejoice for joys in our lives for concerns and situations. The joys that God gives us are big or small but come to us every day. I hope we rejoice for the joys that God gives us every day. I gave you a week-long challenge of finding joys and rejoicing for them. How was it? Did you find many joys and rejoice for them? I hope you did. I encourage you to keep working on it so that your life is filled with joy always.

 

Have you ever sown seeds of vegetables? I have a small garden, and I sow seeds of vegetables every year. I sow seeds of vegetables such as tomatoes, peas, lettuces, basil, etc. I sow the seeds because I know the seeds will produce its fruits or leaves that can be good and fresh ingredients for my family’s meals. What do you think? What would I expect to harvest from my garden in summer? Whatever seeds that I sowed? Right? I cannot expect watermelon as a fruit in my garden because I didn’t sow the seed of watermelon.

 

We know that we cannot get a watermelon after we sow a seed of tomato. So, we don’t expect a watermelon from our garden if we sow a seed of tomato. However, we sometimes expect something as a fruit in our lives although we didn’t sow the seed of the fruit. For example, a student prayed God to help him take the mid-term test well so that he gets a grade of ‘A,’ for the test, although he didn’t study enough to get an ‘A’.  After the faithful prayer, he expects to earn ‘A’ from the test. What do you think? Is it right for him to expect to earn ‘A’? How about this case? Can the student expect to earn a grade of ‘A’ for ELA test because A student studied mathematics very hard last night?

 

It's silly thoughts, right? However, we sometimes expect something that we never sow in our lives. What do you think? What did you sow in your life and what do you expect to harvest? Have you ever expected something that you never sow? For example, we would expect to be healthy and strong although we are not careful with our diet and don’t do exercise. How about our spiritual life and our faith journey? What do we sow for our faith in our lives and what do we expect?

 

In today’s scripture, Paul said, “Do not be deceived; God is not mocked, for you reap whatever you sow. 8 If you sow to your own flesh, you will reap corruption from the flesh, but if you sow to the Spirit, you will reap eternal life from the Spirit.” This is a part of Paul’s letter to the Galatian Church. The church was established after Paul proclaimed the Gospel to the people of Galatia while on his evangelism mission trip.  Paul wrote this letter because he heard that the church was challenged by false gospel. The false gospel was that they had to follow the law strictly including circumcision. Paul pointed out that we are saved by Jesus’s sacrificial love on the cross so they should not be captured or limited by the law but free from the law. However, you should be careful to use your freedom that means you should use the freedom to pursue holy ones rather than seeking worldly things for your flesh. And through today’s passage, Paul urged the congregation to sow to the Spirit so that they reap eternal life from the Spirit.

 

Church family, we have freedom which is given by God as God’s gift. We are saved by God’s grace and we became free from sin through Jesus Christ. Following God’s word for today, I hope you and I sow spiritual ones in our life journey. What does this mean? Here’s an example of someone who chose to plant a new kind of seed in her life. Let me share with you a story from the Upper Room which is written by Emily who lives in Idaho.

 

“For weeks, I had been battling feelings of stress, irritation, and anger, I felt frustrated with everyone and everything. while getting ready for work one day, I told God I didn’t know why my attitude was so bad, but I wanted to change it. I asked for God’s help to reveal what I needed to do to reverse course. One word immediately settled into my heart: gratitude. I spent the remainder of the morning and my commute to work expressing gratitude to God for big and small things. I thanked God for clean water to bathe in; for the scrambled eggs I enjoyed for breakfast; for a car that works; for my sweet dogs who make me laugh; for God’s mercies that are new every day; and for so much more. As I continued to express thankfulness, my sour attitude became sweeter and sweeter. Today’s scripture reading reminds us to make music to the Lord in our hearts and to give thanks to God for everything. When we practice gratitude and center our hearts on thankfulness, we not only honor God, but we are more joyful, peaceful, and loving.”

 

Emily sowed gratitude in her life, and she harvested thankfulness and a sweeter attitude in her life. Likewise, when we sow spiritual ones in our lives, we will reap spiritual fruits. When we sow love in our lives, we will reap love. When we sow kindness, we will reap kindness. When we sow generosity, we will reap generosity. When we sow grace and mercy, we will reap grace and mercy in our lives. When we sow peace, we will reap peace in our lives.

 

I usually turned on Christian music on my phone while I was preparing for and eating breakfast with my kids. However, for a while, I started to turn on the TV in the morning to listen to the news to see what was happening in the world while I was eating breakfast or waiting for my kids to be ready to go to school in the dining room. However, after a certain period, I found that listening to the news was not good to hear for my kids and me in the morning because the news was about crimes and negative accidents, and my kids reacted to the news unconsciously. Negative news was sowed in us. So, I got back to my original routine, listening to Christian music. And my kids sing and follow the songs.

 

Church family, what do you sow in your soul, spirit, and life in your daily life? I hope all of us sow spiritual ones for our faith journey. When we sow reading the Bible, we will get to know God more and more, and we will get to know God’s will and direction more and more so that we will harvest the fruit of God’s word in our lives. When we sow fellowship time with God through prayer and devotional, we will get close to God and build an intimate relationship with God so that we will harvest the confidence of God’s presence in our lives. When we sow service to God’s ministry in our lives, we will see the fruit of God’s ministry.

 

In today’s gospel lesson, Jesus said, “The kingdom of God is like a mustard seed that someone took and sowed in his field; it is the smallest of all the seeds, but when it has grown it is the greatest of shrubs and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and make nests in its branches.” A mustard seed is the smallest seed, but it can grow to a big tree. Likewise, when we sow a small spiritual one, we will reap a big one because God will make it. Church family, what spiritual one would you like to sow for your faith in your life? What spiritual fruit would you like to harvest? Is it thankfulness, love, grace, mercy, kindness, generosity, or peace? How about getting to know God more, God’s will more, and God’s desire for you more? How about an intimate relationship with God? How about strong faith in God? Whatever spiritual fruit you want to harvest, sow the seed of it even though it is small. The small seed will change your life and let you harvest great ones in your life.

 

Today, I want to give you a week-long challenge: Sowing Spiritual Ones. I want you to take a time to consider what spiritual fruit for your faith journey you want to reap in your life and what seed you want to sow every day. Take the handout and please complete it throughout this week for your faith journey. I hope all of us sow spiritual seeds in our lives and harvest the fruits with joy. Imagine your life one year from now, filled with the fruits of peace, love, and gratitude—because of the seeds you begin planting this week. 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: Generous God, You have sown good seeds in our lives— the seed of Your Word, the seed of Your love, the seed of Your grace. Now we return a portion of what You have given us, trusting that You will use these gifts to grow Your Kingdom. May what we give today—our tithes, our offerings, our time, and our service— be seeds of faith, hope, and love, bringing a harvest of blessing to others and glory to Your name. Through Jesus Christ our Lord, Amen.

 

Called to the World

 

†Closing Hymn                             Blessed Assurance                                  UMH 369

 

1. Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine!  
O what a foretaste of glory divine!  
Heir of salvation, purchase of God,  
born of his Spirit, washed in his blood.  
 

[Refrain] 
This is my story, this is my song,  
praising my Savior all the day long;  
this is my story, this is my song,  
praising my Savior all the day long.  

 

2. Perfect submission, perfect delight,  
visions of rapture now burst on my sight;  
angels descending bring from above  
echoes of mercy, whispers of love. [Refrain] 

 

3. Perfect submission, all is at rest;  
I in my Savior am happy and blest,  
watching and waiting, looking above,  
filled with his goodness, lost in his love. [Refrain] 

 

†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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