“This saying is reliable and deserves full acceptance: ‘Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners,’ and I’m the biggest sinner of all.” — 1 Timothy 1:15 (CEB)

Notice the tense. Paul is near the end of his life. He has planted churches and written letters Christians still read. And when he calls himself the biggest sinner of all, he does not say “I used to be.” He writes it present tense. I am.

That grammar matters. Spiritual maturity does not work by graduation. You do not outgrow your need for mercy. The closer Paul walked with Jesus, the more honestly he saw himself, and the more clearly he needed the grace that called him.

This is a relief, if you let it be. Many of us carry a quiet suspicion that we are falling behind. Paul had not moved on from his need. He had moved deeper into grace. Where do you still need grace today? That honest answer is not failure. It is the doorway.

Faithful God, you do not ask me to graduate from grace. Make me honest about how much I still need it, and grateful every time it arrives again. Amen.

A pastor friend once told me, in passing, that everything in the Christian life comes back to three simple questions. Who is God? Who am I? What are we for? Every sermon, every prayer, every faithful conversation, sooner or later, sits down with one of those three.

I have thought about that a lot. I keep coming back to it as I read Lencioni’s argument that every organization must answer six questions to be healthy. The six questions look like business questions. They are also faith questions. They have always been faith questions.

Six Old Questions in New Language

The Board takes up Lencioni’s Discipline 2 on July 22. This is the heart of the framework. Lencioni argues that to create clarity, every organization must answer six specific questions:

1. Why do we exist?

2. How do we behave?

3. What do we do?

4. How will we succeed?

5. What is most important right now?

6. Who must do what?

Read those slowly. Notice that none of them is a new question.

Why do we exist? That is the missio Dei question. Why does this particular community of faith exist in this particular place? The church does not invent its mission. It receives it. God is already at work, and the church exists to participate in that work.

How do we behave? That is the sanctification question. Wesley called it “going on to perfection.” What is the character that grace is forming in us? Values, in this frame, are not aspirations. They are descriptions of who God is shaping us to become.

What do we do? That is the ecclesiology question. What are the actual practices of the body of Christ when we gather and when we scatter? In our tradition, the membership vows give us a starting point: prayers, presence, gifts, service, witness. Those are not metaphors. They are descriptions of what a functioning congregation actually does.

How will we succeed? That is the stewardship and discernment question. God gives every community finite resources, time, people, money, energy, facilities, and asks us to steward them faithfully. Strategy is an act of faith. It is the willingness to say no to good things so the right things can flourish.

What is most important right now? That is the kairos question. Discerning the right time for God’s particular work. The biblical witness is full of moments when God’s people had to focus: rebuild the temple, cross the Jordan, feed the five thousand. Not every season calls for the same thing.

Who must do what? That is the calling and gifts question. The body of Christ works because every member has a role. Paul is relentless about this. God gives gifts, and the community functions when each person exercises theirs.

Six questions. Every one of them, in a different vocabulary, has been at the center of faithful community for thousands of years.

Joshua at Shechem

If you want a biblical case where all six show up at once, look at Joshua 24.

Joshua gathers all the tribes of Israel at Shechem. The settlement of the land is mostly complete. The wilderness is behind them. Joshua is at the end of his life. He stands the people in front of the Ark of the Covenant and walks them through their whole story. From Abraham to Egypt to wilderness to this land. Then he says, “Choose today whom you will serve” (Joshua 24:15, CEB).

That is the moment of covenant renewal. It is also a moment of organizational health work. Joshua makes the people answer who they are (the people God has rescued), how they will behave (in faithfulness, not in idolatry), what they do (worship the Lord), how they will succeed (by remembering their story), what is most important now (the choice in front of them), and who must do what (every household, named, including Joshua’s own). All six questions, implicit in one chapter.

The same pattern repeats throughout scripture. Nehemiah and Ezra rebuilding after exile. Pentecost forming a new community out of strangers. Every time God’s people have had to ask “who are we and what is God calling us to do,” they have been answering organizational questions in faithful language.

The questions are old. The framework is new. Both are useful.

Where McPherson First Is on the Journey

Two of the six questions are settled at McPherson First. On April 22, 2026, our Leadership Board affirmed by unanimous voice vote that our mission is to make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world (Q1) and that our values are to love boldly, serve joyfully, and lead courageously (Q2).

Q3 through Q6 are still in front of us. Over the next several months, the Board will work them through, one question at a time, with this book as a shared text and scripture as the deeper ground. Some of those answers will surface quickly. Others will take longer. Some will need revisiting.

I share that progress not because the answers are remarkable. I share it because the work is real. Most churches I know carry partial answers to one or two of these questions. Few have walked all six all the way through. The work is harder than it looks, and it is worth doing.

A Question to Sit With

Between now and July 22, here is the question I want to leave with you.

Which of the six questions is most alive in your own community right now? Not which one is most clearly answered. Which one is most pressing, most unresolved, most begging for honest engagement?

If you do not know yet, that is a useful starting place. Sit with it. Pray with it. Watch what surfaces.

The next post lands July 22, day-of-meeting, going deeper into how the six questions form a logic of faithfulness. Mission to values to practice to strategy to focus to assignment. Each one builds on the one before. Skip any of them, and the others get fuzzy.

Glad you are reading along.

“Our Lord’s favor poured all over me along with the faithfulness and love that are in Christ Jesus.” — 1 Timothy 1:14 (CEB)

Paul reaches for a specific word: “Our Lord’s favor poured all over me.” The Greek carries the sense of overflow, a river that refuses to stay within its banks. Grace did not just cover what Paul had done. It flooded past it.

We keep ledgers. We track who owes what, who got away with which wrong. Most of us keep one on ourselves too, running deep in the red. Grace refuses the ledger entirely. Not because God is soft on harm, but because the ledger can only keep score. It has no category for transformation, no column called “made new.”

God went past the ledger. Grace arrived in such abundance that the old math broke, and the man who persecuted the church became one of its clearest voices. Name one line grace has already closed. Then stop reading it.

Generous God, your favor poured all over Paul and floods past everything I have done. Close the ledger I keep on myself, and teach me to stop reading what your grace has already settled. Amen.

These worship elements are an early draft being shared as a preview for the upcoming service. The final version used in worship may be adapted or revised. Pastors and worship leaders are welcome to use and adapt these for your own context.

Welcome

Welcome to worship at McPherson First United Methodist Church. I’m [NAME], [CONNECTION to McPherson First]. Whether you’ve been part of this congregation for years or this is your first time, in person or online, you belong here.

Today, in the final week of The Gospel on Stage and Screen, Paul tells Timothy about being called long before he felt ready, a testimony of mercy that became a mission. The promise we lean on most today is witness, telling the story of the mercy that found us.

For your next step, visit mcphersonfirst.org/next or open the Church Center app.

Call to Worship (8:30 only)

I invite you to join in the responsive call to worship as you see the words on display.

Leader: God calls people long before they feel ready.
People: We come as those still becoming.
Leader: Paul was shown mercy, and the mercy became a mission.
People: We are examples of God’s endless patience.
Leader: The ocean calls. The shepherd searches. The Spirit speaks.
People: We gather to listen and respond.
Leader: To the King of the ages, immortal and invisible,
People: we give honor and glory, now and always. Amen.

Welcome Your Neighbor

Paul writes, “I’m an example for those who are going to believe in him.” That sentence changes what witness means. Paul’s witness isn’t his expertise. It’s his story. Mercy came first, and the telling came after.

Think of someone in your life who needs to hear that mercy can find a person before they feel ready. Could you tell them a piece of your story, and invite them to worship next Sunday?

Please stand, welcome your neighbor, and remain standing as we join together in song.

Opening Prayer

We’ve lifted our voices in song. Now we still our hearts to pray together, using the words on display.

All: Calling God, you speak our name before we feel ready. Open our hearts to the mercy that meets us here and sends us out. We pray in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Pastoral and Lord’s Prayer

We enter a time of prayer together. During our prayer, there will be a couple of moments of silence. Use them however feels right. Prayers is one of the five practices through which God works in us. Text PRAY to 620-241-3626 anytime to submit a prayer request. Will you pray with me?

God of every calling, you appointed Paul to ministry while he was still speaking against you. We pause in your presence.

(pause)

We praise you because before we ever thought ourselves worthy, you had already spoken our names. You chose Paul not because he had earned the honor but because you wanted to show endless patience through his life. We thank you for this congregation and for the faithfulness that carries this church week after week.

We confess the ways we disqualify ourselves. We shrink back from opportunities we feel unprepared for. We compare our stories to others’ and decide our testimony isn’t enough. We forget that you call people while they are still becoming.

We offer our prayers of confession to God in this time of quiet.

(pause)

We give thanks for the people who invited us here, the teachers who shaped our faith, the friends who prayed us through hard seasons. We thank you for every ordinary disciple whose witness made you real to us.

Merciful God, we pray for those who feel called and afraid, those standing at the edge of a decision, those who sense you nudging them and don’t know how to answer. We pray for this church as we close a series of stories, and we pray for all who will hear you calling them through the witness of others. Send us out as examples of your endless patience.

We pray in the name of Jesus Christ, the mercy who found us before we were ready, joining our voices in the prayer he taught us:

All: 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.

Invitation to Give and Check-In

Paul says Christ Jesus gave him strength and appointed him to ministry. Ministry in this church runs on the same pattern: people respond to a call, and the community supplies what the call requires. When we give, we practice gifts, funding the ministries that reach the ones who haven’t yet heard they’re wanted.

Thank you to those who give faithfully, month after month, quietly and steadily. You are the partners who carry this ministry through every season. If today is your first time giving, thank you for taking that step.

You can give through the offering plate, online at mcphersonfirst.org/give, or through the Church Center app, the easiest way to give from your phone.

I also invite you to check in through the Church Center app, at mcphersonfirst.org/next, or using the attendance pad in your row. Checking in is how we practice presence, showing up and being counted among the body of Christ.

Ushers, please come forward to receive this morning’s offering.

Doxology (8:30 only)

Praise God, from Whom All Blessings Flow. UMH #94 in E♭. Chorus.

Prayer of Thanksgiving

We’ve given our gifts and offered our prayers. Now we are sent to practice service, to be God’s hands and feet in our community. Will you pray with me?

Generous God, we give thanks for the gifts shared in this place today. Multiply what we offer to reach those who feel unqualified, unready, and unseen. Send us out as examples of your endless patience, telling the story of the mercy that found us. In Christ’s name. Amen.

Benediction

Go now, called before you’re ready. Love boldly, serve joyfully, lead courageously.

And may the God who appoints, the Christ whose mercy finds us, and the Spirit who sends us as witnesses go with you always. And all God’s people said, Amen.

“But I was shown mercy because I acted in ignorance and without faith.” — 1 Timothy 1:13b (CEB)

Paul does not minimize what he did. He names it plainly: he spoke against Jesus, attacked the church, was proud. The list is hard to read, especially since the first word of this letter is “thank.”

Then he says he was shown mercy because he acted in ignorance and without faith. Mercy is not God pretending the past did not happen, or scrubbing the record clean. It is God seeing the record in full and acting toward us as if the past does not define us.

The voice that keeps a list on you claims to be realistic. But it leaves out the only piece that matters: God has already responded to the truth about you, and the response was mercy. What would it change today to believe that?

Merciful God, you saw my whole record and answered with mercy. Help me believe that your first word about me is not the word I keep repeating to myself. Amen.

I don’t do this. Years ago I put a bumper sticker on my car for a candidate, and that was the extent of it. In more than twenty years of ministry I’ve never publicly endorsed anyone for office. I’m careful about it, and I’ve stayed quiet on purpose. Pastors carry a particular kind of trust, and I don’t take lightly the idea of spending it on a campaign. So I want you to know something. I’m speaking up for Adam Hamilton, who’s running for the U.S. Senate. This is the first time I’ve done this, and I’ve thought about it hard. Let me tell you why he’s the exception, and how I’m making it.

How I Know Him

I got my start in ministry as one of the associate pastors at the Church of the Resurrection, where Adam is the founding pastor. That’s where I learned a great deal of what I know about leading a congregation. In the years since, I’ve heard him teach at the Leadership Institute, where pastors from across the country gather to learn. I’ve been with him year after year at our annual conference. And I’ve served alongside him in the Great Plains delegation to Jurisdictional Conference. That’s the kind of setting where you see how a person handles disagreement, pressure, and the slow work of decisions that matter.

I’ve had the chance to watch how he leads, up close and over a long time. Adam’s running as a Democrat, though he’s independent-minded, and what draws me isn’t a party or a slogan. It’s the person I’ve come to know. Here’s what I mean.

What I’ve Seen in Him

He listens. Really listens, the kind where you can tell he’s taking you in rather than waiting for his turn to talk. I saw it again when his Kansas listening tour came through McPherson this spring, watching him give his full attention to the people who showed up to be heard. As far as I know, it’s how he’s always operated. And he doesn’t just listen, he takes what he hears seriously, staying open to learn and grow rather than acting like he already has every answer.

He leads with genuine integrity. The Adam you’d meet in public is the same one I’ve seen in leadership settings over the years. What he says lines up with who he is, and that consistency holds up under pressure, which is where it actually counts. The way he’s led over the years is the way of someone willing to tell people the truth even when a softer version would be easier.

He brings people together across real differences. For decades he’s led a congregation that spans the whole political spectrum, people who agree on very little politically sitting side by side week after week. He’s kept them at the same table without pretending the differences away. That’s hard work, and from what I’ve seen he’s good at it.

He treats every person as a neighbor, not an opponent. Disagreement doesn’t make someone his enemy. That conviction runs through his ministry and his writing, and I trust him to carry it into public service, where it’s in painfully short supply. We could use more people in public life who assume the best of the person across from them.

Washington right now rewards the opposite of all this, treating the other side as the enemy rather than the neighbor. Adam is a different kind of leader. That’s why I’m for him. I believe he’s the leadership Kansas needs in the U.S. Senate, and I think he has a real shot.

Speaking as a Citizen, Not from the Pulpit

Because I’m a pastor, let me be clear about how I’m saying this. I’m speaking as a citizen, on my own name, not as McPherson First and not from the pulpit. No church name, no church resources, my own time. The church I serve includes people who’ll vote every direction this fall, and every one of them is welcome here. That won’t change. My preaching stays neutral. As a pastor, I’ll encourage you to vote. I won’t tell you how, and I won’t start now.

I’ve watched a certain kind of faith show up in some of our elected officials lately. Loud, sure of itself, more interested in winning than serving, quick to claim God for one side. Adam’s approach to faith runs the other direction. It holds its convictions humbly, the faith of a servant rather than a crusader, and it honors the dignity of every person whatever they believe. That’s the kind of faith I trust in the public square, the kind that opens its hands rather than making a fist.

If you see it differently, I respect that. I care more about you than about winning the argument. I'm not asking you to agree with me, and I'm not asking anyone to sign onto a platform. I'm simply telling you what I see in a person I've come to trust, and why I'm willing to say it out loud. If you're still deciding, take a look at Adam yourself at hamiltonforkansas.com. Watch how he treats people who see things differently. That will tell you what you need to know.

I invite you to connect with the voices of the Bible as we explore First Timothy chapter one, verses twelve through seventeen. This passage is Paul’s personal testimony about mercy, calling, and a God whose patience outlasts every form of resistance. This passage sits inside what scholars call a pastoral letter, a piece of mail written not to a whole congregation but to a single person: Timothy, a younger leader Paul had mentored and left in charge of the church in Ephesus. What makes these six verses so striking is that in the middle of instructions about church leadership, Paul stops and tells his own story. He explains why he’s the one writing these words by going back to the beginning of his calling.

Paul doesn’t sugarcoat his past. He names three things about his former life: he used to speak against Jesus, he attacked God’s people, and he was proud. In the book of Acts, we see what that looked like on the ground. Paul, called Saul at the time, stood by approving as Stephen was stoned to death. He went door to door, dragging followers of Jesus out of their homes and throwing them in prison. He was traveling to Damascus with official authorization to arrest more Christians when he was stopped by a blinding light and a voice asking why he was persecuting Jesus. That encounter rerouted his entire life.

What Paul does in this passage is remarkable. He doesn’t hide the story. He leads with it. Scholars note that in the ancient world, testimonies of transformation were powerful because they were personal and public at the same time. Paul’s self-description, “I’m the biggest sinner of all,” isn’t false humility or ritual self-flagellation. It’s an accurate summary of where he started, and it makes what God did visible in a way that only his biography could.

Watch the verbs Paul uses to describe God’s action. Christ Jesus considered him faithful. Christ Jesus appointed him to ministry. Paul was shown mercy. Christ’s favor poured all over him. Every main verb belongs to God. Paul is the object of God’s initiative, not the agent of his own redemption. The verse that anchors the passage, verse fifteen, reads like a confession the whole early church would have recognized: “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners.” It’s a saying, a creed, a summary of the gospel. And Paul attaches himself to the end of it: “and I’m the biggest sinner of all.”

Verse sixteen holds the theological weight of the whole passage. Paul says he was shown mercy for a specific reason, so that Christ Jesus could show his endless patience first in him. The word translated “endless patience” in the original language carries the sense of long-suffering, a willingness to hold on even when the object of that patience is pushing back. Paul becomes a demonstration project. His life is offered as evidence that if God’s patience could wait out someone like him, it can wait out anyone. He is, as he puts it, “an example for those who are going to believe in him for eternal life.”

That phrase, “those who are going to believe,” is worth pausing on. Paul isn’t writing only for the people already in the church. He’s thinking about the people not yet in the story, the ones whose belief is still future tense. His testimony is an anchor point for them, a visible reminder that mercy is available to anyone whose past looks worse than their future feels like it should.

The passage ends with a doxology, a brief burst of praise that seems to erupt out of Paul’s reflection on his own story. “Now to the king of the ages, to the immortal, invisible, and only God, may honor and glory be given to him forever and always! Amen.” Four words describe God: king, immortal, invisible, only. The God who redirected Paul’s life is not a local deity bound by Paul’s limited imagination. The God who called the persecutor of the church is the sovereign of all ages, whose rule extends beyond every calendar we can draw.

Notice what this passage does not say. It does not say Paul first cleaned up his life and then God called him. It does not say Paul demonstrated his qualifications and then God appointed him to ministry. The order runs the other direction. Mercy came first, and out of that mercy came strength, and out of that strength came appointment, and out of that appointment came ministry. The doing emerges from the being-done-to.

As you read First Timothy chapter one this week, notice how Paul positions his own story as an example rather than as an exception. He isn’t saying he’s a special case. He’s saying the opposite. If God could work with him, God can work with anyone. That’s the voice of this passage: a witness offered not as a badge of pride but as an open door. Mercy is available. Calling doesn’t wait for readiness. The King of the ages has been patient with people like you for as long as there have been people.

This is part of the Voices of the Bible series from Andrew Conard. Each week we explore the scripture passage for the upcoming sermon, helping you encounter the text before Sunday morning.

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“I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has given me strength because he considered me faithful. So he appointed me to ministry.” — 1 Timothy 1:12 (CEB)

Somewhere in you lives a voice that keeps a list. It names the reasons you are the wrong person for what God might be asking: too young, too old, too tired, too unprepared, too much history, too little experience. It specializes in disqualification, and it speaks loudest right when something asks for a yes.

Paul knew that voice. He had spoken against Jesus, attacked the church, and been proud. Anyone glancing at his record would have agreed he was the wrong man. And yet, he writes, Christ “considered me faithful. So he appointed me to ministry.”

Notice the order. The considering came first, the appointing after. The disqualifications did not disappear; they got overruled. The voice that says not you is not God’s voice. God’s voice calls you faithful while you are still catching up to the calling.

Calling God, quiet the voice that keeps reading my record back to me. Help me hear the one who considers me faithful while I am still becoming. Amen.

“One missing is enough to stop the world.”

Week three of The Gospel on Stage and Screen sets the Minions, who spend their whole existence searching for someone to follow, next to Luke 15, where Jesus turns the camera around. A shepherd leaves ninety-nine sheep for one. A woman tears her house apart for a single coin. In both, the lost do nothing and the searcher does everything. Preached July 5, 2026, on a Communion Sunday, this sermon lands at the open table, where the searching God keeps finding us one shared meal at a time.

In the manuscript below:

• Why the reckless search of leaving ninety-nine to chase one is the whole surprise of the parable, and the place Jesus wants us to look.

• How every action in both stories belongs to the searcher, not the lost, and what that says about grace.

• Why the open table is the Wesleyan home of these parables, and how Jesus’ shared meal is both the offense and the gospel.

• What changes when you stop rounding yourself, and the people around you, down.

Read more

This week in worship. Our church is in a worship series called The Gospel on Stage and Screen. Come join us this Sunday, July 5, though your group works great on its own. Worship is at 8:30 and 10:15 AM, or online at mcphersonfirst.org.

What Is a Grace Group?

A Grace Group is six to eight people who meet about an hour each week to grow in faith and care for one another. There is no homework and nothing to prepare. We talk honestly, ask a few questions, and pray. You only need to show up and be honest, and everyone is welcome.

A Methodist Way of Making Disciples

Grace Groups recover one of the oldest Methodist practices. Almost three hundred years ago, John Wesley gathered Methodists into small weekly groups that asked one another, “How is it with your soul?” and watched over one another in love. A Grace Group is that same way of making disciples, brought back for today.

Want to read more about this way of making disciples? The Class Meeting by Kevin Watson, and Calling on Fire by Ashley Boggan and Chris Heckert.

The Five Promises

Our five membership promises are also a simple way to talk about our faith journey:

• Prayers: connecting with God through prayer, scripture, and listening

• Presence: showing up for worship and the life of the church

• Gifts: giving to support the church’s mission

• Service: finding where you are called to serve

• Witness: sharing your faith in word and action

Your Hour Together

Everything for your hour together. The times are a guide, not a rule.

Our Covenant 0 min

Each time we meet, we say yes to these together.

• Show up. Come each week. The group needs you.

• Be honest. This is a place to be real, not to put on a show.

• Keep it private. What is said here stays here. That makes honesty safe.

• Give everyone space. Don’t take all the time. Let everyone share.

We Begin 2 min

We’ll begin with a moment of quiet, and then we’ll pray together.

Seeking God, you search for each of us and call us by name, and we are precious to you. Quiet our hearts, open our ears, and free us to be honest with one another. By your Spirit, meet us in this hour as we watch over one another in love. We pray in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

Getting to Know One Another 5 min

We’ll go around the circle. Share your name, then pick one of these to answer.

• What is your go-to comfort food?

• What is a hidden talent or odd skill you have?

The Three Questions

These three questions are the heart of our time. We’ll move through them in order, and everyone gets a turn. The smaller questions underneath are just to help, and there are no wrong answers.

Soul Tending. How is your faith journey going? 10 min

• When did you last feel close to God?

• What is harder to believe than it used to be, or easier?

Now we’ll notice where God has been showing up.

God Sightings. Where do you see God at work in your life? 25 min

• Where have you seen God in someone else’s life?

• What everyday moment felt holy?

Now we’ll name what we want to hand to God.

Growing in Grace. What challenge are you giving to God? 40 min

• What fear or worry needs God’s help?

• What do you want to be different a month from now?

Connect Back (optional, only if time allows): anyone may briefly name something they heard today that stayed with them. Keep it short, for connection, not advice.

We Close 55 min

We’ll keep a few moments of quiet now, space to allow what you shared and heard, and how God has been speaking, to settle in your soul, so you can carry it into the days ahead.

. . . a few moments of silence . . .

Faithful God, thank you for this time and for the people around this circle. Hold what we have shared, and help us trust that we are found and treasured by you in the days ahead. We trust that your love goes ahead of us. By your Spirit, shape us more into the likeness of Christ. Amen.

McPherson First United Methodist Church · mcphersonfirst.org/gracegroups

“In the same way, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who changes both heart and life than over ninety-nine righteous people who have no need to change their hearts and lives.” — Luke 15:7 (CEB)

A hundred sheep. Ten coins. And in both stories, the one who is missing becomes the center of everything. Not because the others don’t matter, but because the lost one reveals the heart of the searcher. God’s love isn’t distributed evenly like a budget across line items. It rushes toward the gap, the absence, the empty space where someone should be.

You were found before you knew you were lost. You were pursued before you thought to turn around. You were celebrated before you could apologize. That’s the gospel Jesus preaches to the grumbling Pharisees, and it’s the gospel he preaches to you this morning.

You are not one of a hundred. You are the one God came for.

Seeking God, I am the one you came for. Thank you for a love that doesn’t wait for me to find my way back but meets me where I am. Amen.

This is a planning preview shared before the series begins. Sermon focus, scripture, music selections, and worship elements may be adapted or revised as the series develops. Pastors and worship planners are welcome to use and adapt this approach for your own context.

Dates: August 16 through September 6, 2026 · Texts: Exodus 19 and 20

Most people hear “the Ten Commandments” and picture rules carved in stone, a list of things you are not supposed to do. This series asks a different question. What if they were never meant as restrictions at all, but as an invitation into the life God imagines for us? Over four weeks we go back to the moment when God said, “I brought you out,” and offered a way of living that leads to freedom rather than less of it. From the covenant invitation at Sinai, to loving God with our whole heart, to building the kind of neighborhood God dreams of, to discovering that enough really is enough. Whether the commandments are familiar ground or new territory, there is a place for you at this open door.

The Look and Feel

The visual theme is warm and human-scaled: golden light streaming through an open doorway. A farmhouse door, a garden gate, a front porch, never grand and never guarded. The palette runs honey gold, warm amber, and soft cream against warm charcoal and deep wood. Each week shifts what is visible through the doorway. Week 1 opens to warm light and landscape, the invitation itself. Week 2 shows a quiet, ordered interior. Week 3 reveals a neighborhood street with neighbors. Week 4 settles on a simple table with just enough. The whole series should feel less like stone tablets and more like someone left the door open for you.

Week 1: August 16 — You Are Invited

Scripture: Exodus 19:1-6; 20:1-2 · Type: Invitation · Promise: Presence · Series launch

Before a single commandment is given, God reminds Israel who brought them out. The Ten Commandments open not with a demand but with a declaration of love and liberation: “I am the Lord your God who brought you out.” Everything that follows is an invitation to live as people who have already been set free. This first week establishes the covenant context that reframes the whole series.

Hymns / Organ

• Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing (UMH 400)

• O God, Our Help in Ages Past (UMH 117)

• I Surrender All (UMH 354)

Contemporary / Praise Team

• Who You Say I Am by Hillsong

• Great Are You Lord by All Sons & Daughters

• Build My Life by Housefires

Week 2: August 23 — Loving What Matters Most

Scripture: Exodus 20:3-11 · Type: Formation · Promise: Prayers · Blessing of the Backpacks

The first four commandments are not about restriction. They are about ordering our loves. No other gods, no idols, honoring God’s name, keeping Sabbath. Each one shapes us to love what matters most. The Sabbath commandment especially connects to spiritual formation, naming rest as a practice of trust rather than one more thing to manage.

Hymns / Organ

• Be Thou My Vision (UMH 451)

• Open My Eyes, That I May See (UMH 454)

• Dear Lord and Father of Mankind (UMH 358)

Contemporary / Praise Team

• First Things First by Consumed by Fire

• No Longer Slaves by Bethel Music

• The Stand by Hillsong

Week 3: August 30 — The Neighborhood God Imagines

Scripture: Exodus 20:12-16 · Type: Justice · Promise: Service

Honor your parents, do not kill, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not bear false witness. Read together, these five commandments paint a picture of the neighborhood God imagines, a community where people are honored, life is sacred, commitments are kept, property is respected, and the truth is told. God’s vision for human community turns out to be generative rather than restrictive. This is also where the “Find Your People” theme opens, the on-ramp toward fall Grace Groups.

Hymns / Organ

• O For a World by Miriam Therese Winter (UMH 730)

• They’ll Know We Are Christians by Their Love (TFWS 2223)

• Lord, Whose Love Through Humble Service (UMH 581)

Contemporary / Praise Team

• Love One Another by We Are Messengers

• If We Are the Body by Casting Crowns

• Do Something by Matthew West

Week 4: September 6 — Enough

Scripture: Exodus 20:17 · Type: Decision · Promise: Gifts · Communion Sunday, series conclusion

The last commandment moves from outward behavior to the inner life: do not covet. It is the one commandment you can break without anyone knowing, and the one that quietly poisons the rest. The series closes where it began, with invitation. God offers a life where enough really is enough, and at the communion table we practice receiving rather than grasping.

Hymns / Organ

• It Is Well with My Soul (UMH 377)

• Great Is Thy Faithfulness (UMH 140)

• Let Us Break Bread Together (UMH 618)

Contemporary / Praise Team

• Gratitude by Brandon Lake

• Enough by Chris Tomlin

• Good Good Father by Chris Tomlin

How the Series Builds

Four sermon types carry the four weeks with no repeats: Invitation, Formation, Justice, and Decision. The membership promises move alongside them, Presence to Prayers to Service to Gifts, with Witness woven through the invitation posture of the opening week and the welcoming spirit of the whole series.

A Few Planning Notes

The open door is the visual thread, and the worship space builds toward it week by week. “The Good Life” follows Passing the Flame, our July journey through 1 and 2 Timothy, carrying the question of faith handed down into the life God invites us to live. It leads into Five Promises this fall, where the commandments as covenant give way to our own membership promises as covenant. The invitation thread ties all three series together, and the back-to-school timing means these conversations land just as families re-enter their school-year rhythms.

“When he arrives home, he calls together his friends and neighbors, saying to them, ‘Celebrate with me because I’ve found my lost sheep.’” — Luke 15:6 (CEB)

The shepherd doesn’t celebrate alone. The woman doesn’t celebrate alone. In both parables, the first thing the finder does after recovering what was lost is gather people. Come over. Sit down. Celebrate with me.

Joy in these stories is never private. It always spills into community. And that’s what Jesus says heaven looks like, not a quiet acknowledgment, but a party. Angels rejoicing. Friends called in from next door. The whole neighborhood buzzing with the news that what was missing has come home.

God of celebration, thank you that your joy over finding the lost always gathers a community. Draw me into worship tomorrow where I can celebrate with others. Amen.

School was letting out for the summer. The day was supposed to feel like a beginning. Instead I had a sermon that had fallen behind, a board agenda to finish and send, and the ordinary errands and hand-offs that never make a list because they simply happen.

By mid-morning I could feel the familiar pull to move everything forward at once, to keep every task spinning, to treat each one as though it carried the same weight and the same deadline. I suspect many people who care about their work feel it too. The day runs out of hours long before the list runs out of items.

So I tried something different. Instead of pushing on all of it, I named two things to land by suppertime. The sermon, caught up. The agenda, sent. Two. Not the whole list, not the version of the day where everything gets crossed off and I arrive at evening triumphant and emptied out. Two things that mattered most, and permission for the rest to wait.

Here is how it actually went. By evening the sermon was where it needed to be. The agenda never went out. One of my two landed cleanly, one did not, and nothing fell apart.

The discipline was not in finishing both. It was in letting the unfinished one be okay. That part does not come naturally. It is easy to name priorities and then quietly expect to accomplish everything anyway, so that “pick two” becomes one more way to attempt all of it. The real practice is smaller and harder: choose what matters most, give it my honest attention, and release the rest without carrying it into the evening as failure.

The gospel never asked me to hold everything. Even Jesus did not heal every sick person in Galilee or answer every demand on his time; he slipped away to pray instead, choosing the few things God set in front of him. There is freedom in that for the rest of us. Naming fewer is not laziness. It can be a way of trusting that the work belongs to God before it belongs to me, and that what I leave undone tonight is not mine alone to carry.

The agenda went out a day later, no worse for the wait. The evening had room in it, because I had stopped trying to win the day.

“And when he finds it, he is thrilled and places it on his shoulders.” — Luke 15:5 (CEB)

Thrilled. Not relieved. Not resigned. Not muttering about the inconvenience. Thrilled. The shepherd finds the sheep and his first response is pure, uncomplicated joy. Then he does something remarkable, he doesn’t scold the sheep or drive it ahead of him. He lifts it onto his shoulders and carries it home.

We expect God to be disappointed when we’re found. We brace for the lecture, the conditions, the probationary period before we’re allowed back. But that’s not the story Jesus tells. The moment of finding is the moment of celebration. No debrief. No guilt trip. Just strong arms and shoulders broad enough to carry you.

Whatever you’ve wandered from, a practice, a relationship, a sense of purpose, the one who finds you is not frustrated. The one who finds you is thrilled.

Joyful God, reshape my picture of you. When you find me, you don’t scold, you celebrate. Help me receive that surprising joy today without flinching. Amen.

“...won’t light a lamp and sweep the house, searching her home carefully until she finds it?” — Luke 15:8b (CEB)

The coin was lost inside the house. Not out in the wilderness, not stolen by a stranger, lost right there among familiar walls. That might be the most unsettling kind of lost there is. You show up to work, sit at the table for dinner, answer when someone calls your name. But somewhere inside, something essential has slipped out of place.

You’re present and missing at the same time. Your phone is on do-not-disturb and so is your heart. You’re surrounded by people who love you, and you still feel unreachable.

The woman doesn’t give up because the coin is somewhere in the house. She lights a lamp. She sweeps every corner. She refuses to accept that something precious can stay lost in its own home.

Neither does God.

God of every hidden corner, you search for me even when I am lost in familiar places. Break through my silence and sweep me back into your light. Amen.

“Wouldn’t he leave the other ninety-nine in the pasture and search for the lost one until he finds it?” — Luke 15:4b (CEB)

Sometimes a pastor drives two hours to sit with someone for thirty minutes. The math doesn’t work on paper. The fuel costs more than the visit seems worth, and the conversation might be short. But the drive says something the words don’t, you matter enough for me to come find you.

The shepherd in this parable makes the same irrational calculation. He leaves ninety-nine safe sheep in the pasture and walks into the wilderness for one. No GPS. No guarantee. Just the stubborn conviction that the lost one is worth the search, however long it takes.

That’s the part the Pharisees couldn’t stomach. Grace doesn’t do cost-benefit analysis. It just goes. And it keeps going until it finds you, even when you don’t have a map back.

Relentless God, you don’t calculate whether I’m worth the effort before you come looking. Thank you for a love that keeps walking into the wilderness. Amen.

These worship elements are an early draft being shared as a preview for the upcoming service. The final version used in worship may be adapted or revised. Pastors and worship leaders are welcome to use and adapt these for your own context.

Welcome

Welcome to worship at McPherson First United Methodist Church. I’m [NAME], [CONNECTION to McPherson First]. Whether you’ve been part of this congregation for decades or this is your first Sunday, in person or online, you belong here.

Today’s scripture tells two stories about people who refused to stop searching for one lost thing. The promise we lean on most today is presence, showing up to be counted among the ones God has searched for and brought home.

We gather around Christ’s table for Holy Communion, an open table where all are welcome, because God’s grace reaches us before we reach for God. If you’re worshiping online, have a little bread and juice ready.

A new appointive year begins today. Pastor Chantel and I are grateful to serve this congregation another year, and card baskets are in the lobby if you’d like to leave either of us a word.

For your next step, visit mcphersonfirst.org/next or open the Church Center app.

Call to Worship (8:30 only)

I invite you to join in the responsive call to worship as you see the words on display.

Leader: God searches for what is lost and does not give up.
People: We come to worship the God who finds us.
Leader: One sheep out of a hundred. One coin out of ten.
People: Every single one matters to God.
Leader: When what was lost is found, heaven celebrates.
People: We celebrate the God whose love never stops seeking.
Leader: God has found us and sets a table in our midst.
People: We come to Christ’s table with gratitude and joy.

Welcome Your Neighbor

In today’s parables, the shepherd searches until he finds the sheep and then calls his neighbors to celebrate. The woman tears her house apart for one coin and gathers her friends to rejoice. Joy in this story is never private. It always spills over into community. That’s what witness looks like: sharing the good news that you’ve been found.

Picture someone in your life who feels overlooked or forgotten, who needs to hear they are worth searching for. Could you let them know, and invite them to worship next Sunday?

Please stand, welcome your neighbor, and then remain standing as we join together in song.

Opening Prayer

We’ve lifted our voices in song. Now we quiet our hearts to pray together, using the words on display.

All: Seeking God, you found us before we knew we were lost. Open our eyes to your pursuing love, and our hearts to the joy of being found. We pray in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Pastoral Prayer

We enter a time of prayer together. During our prayer, there will be a couple of moments of silence. Use them however feels right. Prayers is one of the five practices through which God works in us. Text PRAY to 620-241-3626 anytime to submit a prayer request. Will you pray with me?

Seeking God, you are the shepherd who leaves the ninety-nine to find the one. You are the woman who lights the lamp and sweeps every corner until what was lost is recovered. We pause in your presence.

(pause)

We praise you because before we ever thought to look for you, you were already looking for us. We thank you for this community that gathers week after week, for the faithfulness of those who show up, who pray, who serve, who invite. On this morning when a new appointive year begins, we give thanks for the pastors who serve this congregation and for the ministry we share in this place. We also pray for colleagues across our conference who are beginning new appointments today. Settle them and their families into new homes and unfamiliar communities. Open the hearts of every congregation receiving a new pastor. Steady every pastor stepping into ground they do not yet know. Bless every appointment as the work of your Spirit in your Church.

We confess that sometimes we stop searching. We give up on relationships that feel too difficult. We write off people who seem too far gone. We forget that you never calculate the cost of pursuit. You simply go.

We offer our prayers of confession to God in this time of quiet.

(pause)

We give thanks for every person in this room who makes this church a place where people can be found. For the ones who keep the lamp lit. For the ones who sweep every corner of welcome. For the ones who carry someone home on their shoulders.

God of relentless love, we pray for those in our community who feel lost today, lost in grief, in addiction, in loneliness, in doubt. We pray for families navigating hard seasons. We pray for the person who almost came to church this morning but didn’t. Search for them still. And use us as part of the search party. Strengthen this congregation to be a people who never stop looking, never stop welcoming, never stop celebrating when someone comes home.

We pray in the name of Jesus Christ, the good shepherd who comes after every lost one. Amen.

(On Communion Sundays the Lord’s Prayer is prayed within the Great Thanksgiving below, so it is not repeated here.)

Invitation to Give and Check-In

The shepherd in today’s parable put everything on the line for one sheep. That’s the math of the kingdom: every person is worth the full effort. When we give, we practice gifts, joining God’s search by funding the ministries that find people.

Thank you to those who give faithfully, month after month, quietly and steadily. You are the partners who carry this ministry through every season. If today is your first time giving, thank you for taking that step.

You can give through the offering plate, online at mcphersonfirst.org/give, or through the Church Center app, the easiest way to give from your phone.

I also invite you to check in through the Church Center app, at mcphersonfirst.org/next, or using the attendance pad in your row. Checking in is how we practice presence, showing up and being counted among the body of Christ.

Ushers, please come forward to receive this morning’s offering.

Doxology (8:30 only)

Praise God, from Whom All Blessings Flow. UMH #94 in E♭. Chorus.

Holy Communion: Invitation, Confession, and Pardon

We come now to the Lord’s table. If you are worshiping online, please have bread and juice ready. Together we’ll share Christ’s invitation, confess where we’ve fallen short, and receive God’s grace. Join in the words on screen.

Jesus told stories of a shepherd who searched for one lost sheep and a woman who swept every corner of her house to find one lost coin. Jesus himself is the seeker who comes after us, and at this table he meets us with bread and cup. We don’t come because we have earned our way in. We come because God has already searched for us and brought us home.

This is God’s table, and all are invited. Whether you’ve been following Jesus your whole life or you’re still figuring out what you believe, whether you feel found today or still a little lost, you belong at this table. We prepare our hearts to receive. Pray with me the confession before you:

All: Merciful God, we confess that we have stopped searching for the ones you still pursue. We have written off people as too far gone. We have kept our distance from neighbors who needed to be welcomed. We have forgotten that we, too, were once lost and have been found by your grace. Forgive us. Give us the shepherd’s heart, the sweeper’s persistence, and the father’s welcome, so we can be part of your search party in the world. Amen.

Take a moment for your own silent prayer.

(All pray in silence)

Hear the good news: Christ died for us while we were yet sinners; that proves God’s love toward us. In the name of Jesus Christ, you are forgiven!

People: In the name of Jesus Christ, you are forgiven! Glory to God. Amen.

Holy Communion: The Great Thanksgiving

Leader: The Lord be with you.
People: And also with you.
Leader: Lift up your hearts.
People: We lift them up to the Lord.
Leader: Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.
People: It is right to give our thanks and praise.

It is right, and a good and joyful thing, always and everywhere to give thanks to you, Almighty God, creator of heaven and earth.

You made us in your image and called us good. When we wandered away, you did not give up on us. You came looking. You sent prophets who spoke your name in the wilderness. You called your people home again and again. And when the time was right, you sent your Son, the good shepherd who lays down his life for the sheep.

In Jesus, you revealed a God who refuses to count the cost of the search. He ate with tax collectors and sinners. He welcomed children and outsiders. He told stories of lost sheep, lost coins, and lost sons, each one found and celebrated by a love that would not be deterred.

And so, with your people on earth and all the company of heaven, we praise your name and join their unending hymn:

People: Holy, holy, holy Lord, God of power and might, heaven and earth are full of your glory. Hosanna in the highest. Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord. Hosanna in the highest.

Holy are you, and blessed is your Son Jesus Christ. Through his suffering, death, and resurrection you gave birth to your Church, set us free from sin and death, and made with us a new covenant by water and the Spirit.

On the night in which he gave himself up for us, he took bread, gave thanks to you, broke the bread, gave it to his disciples, and said: “Take, eat; this is my body which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.”

When the supper was over, he took the cup, gave thanks to you, gave it to his disciples, and said: “Drink from this, all of you; this is my blood of the new covenant, poured out for you and for many for the forgiveness of sins. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.”

And so, remembering all you have done for us in Jesus Christ, we offer ourselves to you: our praise, our thanks, our lives. United with Christ, we proclaim the mystery of faith:

People: Christ has died; Christ is risen; Christ will come again.

Pour out your Holy Spirit on us gathered here, and on these gifts of bread and juice. Make them be for us the body and blood of Christ, that we may be for the world the body of Christ, redeemed by his blood.

By your Spirit make us one with Christ, one with each other, and one in ministry to all the world, until Christ comes in final victory, and we feast at his heavenly banquet.

Through your Son Jesus Christ, with the Holy Spirit in your holy Church, all honor and glory is yours, almighty God, now and forever.

With the confidence of children of God, we pray together:

All: 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.

Holy Communion: Receiving

(Lift the bread and break it)

The bread we break is the body of Christ, given for us.

(Lift the cup)

The cup we share is Christ’s life, poured out for us. The shepherd has found his sheep. The woman has found her coin. The celebration the parables describe begins here, at this table set for the found.

Friends, this is the table set for the found, and all are welcome. You don’t have to be a member of this church or even a United Methodist. Come with an open heart to receive God’s love.

When you come forward, you’ll receive a piece of bread. Hold it carefully and reverently. It represents the body of Christ. Then you’ll be offered a small cup of unfermented wine or grape juice. Eat the bread and drink the cup. After receiving, you’re welcome to kneel at the rail to pray. Place your empty cup in the holders along the rail, and return to your seat using the side aisles.

If you’re worshiping online, receive the bread and cup now, knowing you are part of this body.

Friends, the table is ready. As the ushers direct your row, come and receive.

Prayer after Holy Communion

We’ve been found at Christ’s table. Now we’re sent to practice service, joining the search party for everyone still being looked for. Will you pray with me?

Eternal God, we give you thanks for this holy mystery in which you have given yourself to us. You have searched for us and found us, welcomed us and fed us, named us and claimed us as your own. Send us into the world in the strength of your Spirit to search for others with the same relentless love, in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Benediction

Go now, worth searching for. Love boldly, serve joyfully, lead courageously.

And may the God who leaves the ninety-nine, the Christ who finds the one, and the Spirit who throws the welcome home party go with you always. And all God’s people said, Amen.

“Or what woman, if she owns ten silver coins and loses one of them, won’t light a lamp and sweep the house, searching her home carefully until she finds it?” — Luke 15:8 (CEB)

The coin didn’t wander off. It didn’t make a bad decision or take a wrong turn. It simply slipped from the place where it belonged and landed somewhere in the dark. That’s a different kind of lost, the kind where you didn’t choose to leave. You just ended up on the floor.

Maybe you’ve been there. Not rebellious, not running. Just displaced. Knocked loose by grief or exhaustion or a season that quietly pulled the ground out from under you. The coin can’t call for help. It can’t roll itself back to the table.

But the woman lights a lamp anyway. She doesn’t wait for the coin to find its own way. She searches. That’s the picture Jesus paints of God, someone who creates light in dark rooms and looks until you’re found.

Searching God, when I have slipped into dark places through no fault of my own, you light a lamp and come looking. Steady me in that truth today. Amen.

I invite you to connect with the voices of the Bible as we explore Luke chapter fifteen, verses one through ten, the twin parables of the Lost Sheep and the Lost Coin. These two stories are among the most familiar in all of scripture, and their placement in Luke’s Gospel is deliberately provocative. Jesus tells them in direct response to religious leaders who are grumbling that he welcomes sinners and eats with them. The parables aren’t abstract teaching. They’re a defense of a dinner table.

Luke sets the scene with remarkable economy. Tax collectors and sinners are gathering around Jesus to listen. The Pharisees and legal experts are watching from the edges, muttering their disapproval. Jesus doesn’t argue with them. He doesn’t cite legal precedents or debate purity codes. He tells stories. And the stories he chooses make a devastating point about who God is and what God values.

The first story is about a shepherd who owns a hundred sheep and loses one. Jesus asks the crowd a question: wouldn’t the shepherd leave the ninety-nine in the pasture and search for the lost one until he finds it? The answer seems obvious, but it’s actually quite radical. Leaving ninety-nine unprotected sheep to find one is a significant risk. It’s not efficient. It’s not strategic. It’s the behavior of someone who cannot bear to leave a single member of the flock behind.

When the shepherd finds the sheep, notice what he does. He doesn’t scold it or drive it back to the group. He places it on his shoulders, a posture of tenderness and strength, and carries it home. Then he throws a party. He gathers his friends and neighbors and says, “Celebrate with me because I’ve found my lost sheep.” The joy is communal. Finding what was lost demands celebration.

The second parable mirrors the first but shifts the setting from open countryside to the interior of a home. A woman owns ten silver coins and loses one. She lights a lamp, sweeps the house, and searches carefully until she finds it. Then she too gathers friends and neighbors to celebrate. The structure is identical: loss, relentless search, finding, communal joy.

Two details in this second parable deserve attention. First, the woman doesn’t passively wait for the coin to turn up. She lights a lamp, she creates the conditions for finding. She sweeps the house, she actively works through every space until the coin is recovered. Second, the coin cannot find itself. Unlike the sheep, which at least wandered off on its own power, the coin is an inanimate object. It has no ability to return. The woman’s search is entirely one-sided, entirely initiated by her.

This is Luke’s portrait of God. Not a distant deity waiting for lost people to find their way back, but an active searcher who lights lamps and sweeps corners. Not a passive presence but a relentless pursuer. The theological weight of these parables falls not on the behavior of the lost, the sheep that wandered, the coin that rolled away, but on the character of the one who searches.

And remember the context. Jesus tells these stories because religious leaders are criticizing him for the company he keeps. The Pharisees have drawn a line between the righteous and the sinners, between those who belong at the table and those who don’t. Jesus responds by describing a God who draws no such line, a God who will leave the ninety-nine respectable sheep standing in the pasture to chase the one that wandered off into the wilderness. The parables aren’t just teaching about God’s love in general. They’re a direct challenge to every system that decides who deserves to be found and who doesn’t.

Jesus concludes both parables with the same punchline: heaven rejoices over one sinner who changes both heart and life more than over ninety-nine who have no need to change. This isn’t a statement about the relative value of righteous people. It’s a window into the heart of God, where the recovery of what was lost triggers celebration that shakes the heavens.

As you read Luke fifteen this week, notice who is doing the finding. The shepherd searches. The woman searches. God searches. The lost are found not because they navigated their own way back, but because someone refused to stop looking. And notice what follows every finding: not a lecture, not a probationary period, but a celebration. The response to recovery is joy, immediate, communal, overflowing joy. That’s the heart of the God Jesus reveals in these parables.

This is part of the Voices of the Bible series from Andrew Conard. Each week we explore the scripture passage for the upcoming sermon, helping you encounter the text before Sunday morning.

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