The Treasure Of His Kingdom
Sermon
The Man From Galilee
Sermons and Orders of Worship for Lent and Easter
Object:
Some time ago we had a man speak at one of our suppers who is a shareholder in Mel Fisher's enterprise. Mel Fisher is the man who discovered a Spanish ship which had gone down in a hurricane off the Florida Keys centuries ago. Fisher became fascinated with hunting for lost treasure. Through his research he was able to determine about where the ship went down. He thought it would take him at least twelve weeks to find it. Twelve weeks turned into twelve years, and still there was no treasure. Finally, after sixteen years he discovered the treasure. It is believed to be worth four hundred million dollars.
How would you like to discover some real treasure?
Jesus said the kingdom of Heaven is a treasure. There is no treasure like the treasure of His kingdom.
When Jesus preached the Sermon on the Mount, up near the Galilean city of Capernaum, He made a striking statement about treasure. He said, "Lay not up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasure in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also."
Sometime later on Jesus taught again a great multitude of people near that same place. So many came to hear Him that He had to get in a boat and speak to them as they crowded along the shore of the lake. That day He spoke many things to them in parables, those little stories which Jesus told which contained such great truths.
Later, after the people had left, Jesus and the twelve went back to Simon's home in Capernaum. The disciples asked Jesus to explain one of the parables. In the course of their conversation He gave them other parables about the kingdom of Heaven. One of them was the parable I have read for us today. In that parable Jesus said, "The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up; then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field."
The treasure that man found meant that much to him. But I want to say to all of us today there is no treasure like the treasure of His kingdom.
Jesus came to usher in the new age of God's kingdom. This was one of the great themes of his preaching and teaching. The words "kingdom of heaven" and "kingdom of God" have many meanings. Basically, Jesus was talking about the rule of God in the lives of His people and in the life of the world. It was both present and future, deep within us and all around us.
Jesus said this kingdom is like a treasure hid in a field. It was so valuable a man would sell all his possessions to have it.
Let me tell you these things about the treasure of His kingdom.
I.
First, the treasure of His kingdom creates life's greatest joy. There is simply nothing else which compares with the kingdom of Heaven. In that kingdom is found life's greatest joy. In this parable Jesus told, a man discovered a treasure hidden in a field. Suddenly this man was overwhelmed by joy. It was the greatest discovery he ever made. It filled his life with joy. Jesus was saying the kingdom of Heaven fills our lives with this kind of joy.
The kingdom of Heaven is like this. It creates life's greatest joy.
Everybody wants to find joy. Not everybody is finding it, however. A few years ago there was a song out called, "Looking for love in all the wrong places."
Multitudes of people are looking for happiness in all the wrong places. They would love to be happy, but they cannot define it. They would love to find happiness, but they do not know where it is. They would love to obtain happiness, but they do not know how to go about it. So they are wandering around like sheep without a shepherd.
I understand President Bush wanted to talk to Moses about the situation in the Middle East. So he went up to Heaven and said to Saint Peter, "Could I possibly see Mr. Moses?" Saint Peter went off to find Moses. In a little while he came back and said, "Moses said the last time he talked to a bush he was lost in the wilderness for forty years." Many people are lost out there looking for happiness.
Sometimes joy, happiness, and fulfillment are seen as being tangible things which we can get, buy, or purchase. We forget so easily that joy never comes to us that way. It is always a byproduct, always the result of something else.
It is found not in the things we possess, but in the things which possess us. It is found not in what we can own, but in who owns us. It is found not in what we create for ourselves, but in what we discover.
C. S. Lewis wrote a book called Surprised By Joy. Joy is always a great discovery, a great surprise.
The joy we want is found in our citizenship in God's kingdom, for it is the only place where we really belong. Only there do we find a sense of well-being and fulfillment. Only in God's kingdom do we find an answer for all of life's questions, and a sense of hope for time and eternity. When we make this discovery it begins to fill our lives with joy, a kind of joy which shows up in our living.
A Chinese government official was sent to a village to investigate those who were thought to be Christians. He talked with the village leader about them. He wanted to know how many lived there, and how he could tell who they were. The village leader replied, "That is easy. The Christians are the happy ones."1
To discover the treasure of the kingdom of Heaven is to find life's greatest joy.
II.
Second, the treasure of His kingdom costs life's highest price. The greatest joy is never free. It always requires something. The price is high. Jesus said this man in his parable "sells all that he has." He sold everything in order to raise enough money to be able to buy this field in which the treasure was found.
The kingdom of Heaven is like that. It costs life's highest price.
We may look at this negatively. It may seem negative in a way to say the kingdom of Heaven and the Christian life cost us everything. We may feel that makes it seem too difficult, too demanding. Yet, there are so many things like this. There are many things which will cost us everything, and when those things are through with us they will leave us broken and broke.
I saw an interview with Mickey Rooney on television. He said, "I lost $2.00 at a racetrack one time, and I've spent about three million dollars trying to get it back."
Anything we commit our lives to can wind up costing us everything. Everything we choose, every choice we make can cost us everything. That being the case, we have only one sane and sensible choice, and that is to choose the kingdom of God. Yes, it will cost us everything.
A woman in New York earned her living selling pretzels out on the street for 25 cents each. A man came by every day and gave her 25 cents, but he never took a pretzel. He just gave her the money. One day she chased him down and said, "Sir, I need to tell you something about these pretzels." He said, "Oh, I never take one, you know. I just give you the 25 cents." She replied, "Yes, I know. But, they have gone up to 35 cents."
The kingdom of Heaven will always cost us something: everything we are. But as we give everything to it we discover an amazing thing. It begins to take root in us and grow. And it creates within us the very best we can become. It calls forth from us the very best we could ever be. And, like all good investments, it will provide in us and for us wonderful dividends.
A man in one of my churches told me his son came home from Sunday school one Sunday and told his mother they had learned about inheriting God's kingdom. They studied what it means to inherit something. Then he said to his mother, "I'd like my inheritance now." His mother answered, "That's too bad. I'm not through with it yet."
In the kingdom of Heaven, however, you can have your inheritance now. Saint Paul wrote to the Romans, "The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs, heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ." In His final week Jesus told in one of His parables how the king would say, "Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world." It would be given to those who had given their lives in service, to those who had paid the price.
To discover the treasure of the kingdom of Heaven is to learn it costs life's highest price.
III.
Third, the treasure of His kingdom calls for life's deepest commitment. Because the kingdom of Heaven offers us the greatest joy at the highest cost, it calls for the deepest commitment. Jesus tells us that when this man sells all he has in order to raise enough money then he "buys that field." This man made the commitment. He bought it. He followed through with it all the way.
Now, remember the situation here. Jesus has told His disciples this parable about the kingdom of Heaven. He has been training those disciples, and He wants them to be kingdom of God people. He wants them to understand the sacrifice they would be making and the value of that kingdom. He is trying to impress those things upon them.
Christ's kingdom always calls for the note of sacrifice, taking a chance, living on the edge.
There was an Indian down in Florida who used to wrestle alligators for tourists. One time after one of his performances a lady noticed he wore a string of alligator teeth around his neck. She said, "Oh, that is sort of like wearing a string of pearls." He replied, "Not quite. Anyone can open an oyster."
Anyone can be religious. Having kingdom of God treasure is something else altogether. It always requires commitment. It calls us to give our lives to Christ and the rule of God in our lives. It puts us among the people of God who have been faithful to Him across the centuries. It re-orders our priorities, what we think is important, what we are living for. It leads us to dedicate our lives, who we are, what we can do, our abilities, hopes, and dreams to God's kingdom. In the midst of this kind of commitment we make the most marvelous discovery. We find that even though we began thinking it would cost us a great deal, we discover suddenly that we have riches untold, beyond measure. We become overwhelmed by the value of the treasure we have found, the treasure of His kingdom.
There is an ancient legend about some men who were on a long journey. They came across a great desert, and rode into a wilderness area. At sundown they came to a river. They got off their horses and knelt down by the river to drink water. Suddenly a voice spoke to them. The voice said, "Fill your pockets up with pebbles from along the river. And tomorrow you will be both glad and sorry." So they did what the voice commanded. They got on their horses and rode away. On through the night they rode. Finally the sun began to peek over the horizon. They stopped and reached into their pockets and there they found diamonds and rubies. They held a treasure in their hands, and they were both glad and sorry. They were glad they had it, but they were sorry because they had not taken more.2
The good news for us is we can have all we want of the treasure of His kingdom, all we are willing to take. If you will take that treasure you will learn it is the discovery of a lifetime.
____________
1. Peter Hunt Meek, "An Insufficient Joy," Pulpit Digest (Harper & Row Publishers, Inc.: Hagerstown, Maryland, March-April, 1989), p. 62.
2. T. Cecil Myers, Faith For A Time of Storm (Abingdon Press: New York and Nashville, 1963), p. 91.
Morning Prayer
Lent 4
Our Father and our God, who is the giver of all good gifts, we gather to worship Thee and to express our love for Thee for all Thy goodness toward us.
And in this season we think of Thy Son Jesus Christ and the goodness of His life. We thank Thee for the gift of Christ, for His winsome life, His wise teaching, His healing touch, His compassion and mercy, His unselfish death and His victorious resurrection. Enable us to walk through these days with Him.
Help us to open our lives to Him and to be Thy people in all we do.
Give us an unselfish spirit, courage to carry our burdens, the convictions of a great faith and commitment to Thee and Thy kingdom.
Forgive our sins, and enable us to forgive others. Give us patience, and help other people to be patient with us. Make us loving and easy to love. Make us strong, that we may help those who are weak.
Bless the work we do in this church for Thee and Thy kingdom. Help us always to put the welfare of Thy kingdom ahead of our own thoughts, desires, and opinions. Enable us to find the treasure of the kingdom of Christ.
Bless our sick and sorrowful, and those in our community who need Thy help and ours. Bless suffering people the world over.
Bless the leaders of the world, O God, with wisdom, compassion, and good sense. We pray these things in the name of Thy well-beloved Son. Amen.
Children's Message
Lent 4
Finding Buried Treasure
Good morning, boys and girls. I am so glad you have come to church today.
I have brought with me today a little shovel for us to look at. Now, this has many good uses. You could dig a hole for a fence post. Or you could dig a ditch to drain away water. You could use it to prepare the ground for a flower bed or a small garden. Can any of you think of any other ways to use this shovel?
You could also use it to dig for buried treasure. Maybe some of you have read a popular book called Treasure Island. It's a book about pirates and buried treasure.
One time Jesus was talking to some people. We are going to read about this later on today. He told a story about a man who found a treasure buried in a field. That man sold everything he had so he could have enough money to buy the field. Jesus was saying that to love God and live for God is that important. It is worth that much.
Jesus used a term, "the Kingdom of God." By that He meant God's rule in our lives. It is letting God be our ruler, the one we love and serve and obey. It is giving our lives to God.
For us to do this is more valuable to us than any treasure we could ever find. It is the most important thing we could ever have or discover. The most important decision we ever make is deciding to make God our king and then living in His kingdom.
So, don't let this treasure stay buried. Dig it up. Open it up and live on it.
Let's bow our heads. O God, thank You for the gift of your Son for the treasure we find in Him and You. Amen.
Discussion Questions
Lent 4
1. Begin the session with a prayer by a group member.
2. Have someone read Matthew 13:44.
3. Having asked them ahead of time, let members of the group share various sections of the chapter.
4. What is Jesus saying in this parable?
5. Why did He think the Kingdom of God was so valuable?
6. How valuable is the Kingdom of God to you?
7. Why is this so?
8. If the Kingdom of God is so valuable to you, what then will you do about it?
9. Close with a time of silent prayer, sentence prayers, and then the benediction by the leader.
Order Of Worship
11:00 a.m.
Fourth Sunday In Lent
WE GATHER TO WORSHIP GOD
Prelude
Chiming the Hour
Introit
Greeting
Leader: Rend your hearts and not your clothing.
People: Return to the Lord, your God, for He is gracious and merciful.
Hymn of Praise
"O Worship The King"
Affirmation of Faith
The Apostles' Creed
Welcome and Sharing
Children's Message
"Finding Buried Treasure"
WE TURN TO GOD IN PRAYER
Joys and Concerns
Morning Prayer and the Lord's Prayer
WE GIVE TO GOD
Prayer of Dedication
Offertory
Doxology
WE HEAR GOD'S WORD
Hymn of Preparation
"I Love Thy Kingdom, Lord"
Anthem
Reading of the Scriptures
Matthew 13:44
Leader: This is the Word of the Lord.
People: Thanks be to God.
The Message
"The Treasure Of His Kingdom"
WE RESPOND TO GOD
The Invitation to Christian Discipleship
Hymn of Invitation
"Jesus, Keep Me Near The Cross"
Benediction
Congregational Response
WE DEPART TO SERVE GOD
Postlude
How would you like to discover some real treasure?
Jesus said the kingdom of Heaven is a treasure. There is no treasure like the treasure of His kingdom.
When Jesus preached the Sermon on the Mount, up near the Galilean city of Capernaum, He made a striking statement about treasure. He said, "Lay not up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasure in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also."
Sometime later on Jesus taught again a great multitude of people near that same place. So many came to hear Him that He had to get in a boat and speak to them as they crowded along the shore of the lake. That day He spoke many things to them in parables, those little stories which Jesus told which contained such great truths.
Later, after the people had left, Jesus and the twelve went back to Simon's home in Capernaum. The disciples asked Jesus to explain one of the parables. In the course of their conversation He gave them other parables about the kingdom of Heaven. One of them was the parable I have read for us today. In that parable Jesus said, "The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up; then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field."
The treasure that man found meant that much to him. But I want to say to all of us today there is no treasure like the treasure of His kingdom.
Jesus came to usher in the new age of God's kingdom. This was one of the great themes of his preaching and teaching. The words "kingdom of heaven" and "kingdom of God" have many meanings. Basically, Jesus was talking about the rule of God in the lives of His people and in the life of the world. It was both present and future, deep within us and all around us.
Jesus said this kingdom is like a treasure hid in a field. It was so valuable a man would sell all his possessions to have it.
Let me tell you these things about the treasure of His kingdom.
I.
First, the treasure of His kingdom creates life's greatest joy. There is simply nothing else which compares with the kingdom of Heaven. In that kingdom is found life's greatest joy. In this parable Jesus told, a man discovered a treasure hidden in a field. Suddenly this man was overwhelmed by joy. It was the greatest discovery he ever made. It filled his life with joy. Jesus was saying the kingdom of Heaven fills our lives with this kind of joy.
The kingdom of Heaven is like this. It creates life's greatest joy.
Everybody wants to find joy. Not everybody is finding it, however. A few years ago there was a song out called, "Looking for love in all the wrong places."
Multitudes of people are looking for happiness in all the wrong places. They would love to be happy, but they cannot define it. They would love to find happiness, but they do not know where it is. They would love to obtain happiness, but they do not know how to go about it. So they are wandering around like sheep without a shepherd.
I understand President Bush wanted to talk to Moses about the situation in the Middle East. So he went up to Heaven and said to Saint Peter, "Could I possibly see Mr. Moses?" Saint Peter went off to find Moses. In a little while he came back and said, "Moses said the last time he talked to a bush he was lost in the wilderness for forty years." Many people are lost out there looking for happiness.
Sometimes joy, happiness, and fulfillment are seen as being tangible things which we can get, buy, or purchase. We forget so easily that joy never comes to us that way. It is always a byproduct, always the result of something else.
It is found not in the things we possess, but in the things which possess us. It is found not in what we can own, but in who owns us. It is found not in what we create for ourselves, but in what we discover.
C. S. Lewis wrote a book called Surprised By Joy. Joy is always a great discovery, a great surprise.
The joy we want is found in our citizenship in God's kingdom, for it is the only place where we really belong. Only there do we find a sense of well-being and fulfillment. Only in God's kingdom do we find an answer for all of life's questions, and a sense of hope for time and eternity. When we make this discovery it begins to fill our lives with joy, a kind of joy which shows up in our living.
A Chinese government official was sent to a village to investigate those who were thought to be Christians. He talked with the village leader about them. He wanted to know how many lived there, and how he could tell who they were. The village leader replied, "That is easy. The Christians are the happy ones."1
To discover the treasure of the kingdom of Heaven is to find life's greatest joy.
II.
Second, the treasure of His kingdom costs life's highest price. The greatest joy is never free. It always requires something. The price is high. Jesus said this man in his parable "sells all that he has." He sold everything in order to raise enough money to be able to buy this field in which the treasure was found.
The kingdom of Heaven is like that. It costs life's highest price.
We may look at this negatively. It may seem negative in a way to say the kingdom of Heaven and the Christian life cost us everything. We may feel that makes it seem too difficult, too demanding. Yet, there are so many things like this. There are many things which will cost us everything, and when those things are through with us they will leave us broken and broke.
I saw an interview with Mickey Rooney on television. He said, "I lost $2.00 at a racetrack one time, and I've spent about three million dollars trying to get it back."
Anything we commit our lives to can wind up costing us everything. Everything we choose, every choice we make can cost us everything. That being the case, we have only one sane and sensible choice, and that is to choose the kingdom of God. Yes, it will cost us everything.
A woman in New York earned her living selling pretzels out on the street for 25 cents each. A man came by every day and gave her 25 cents, but he never took a pretzel. He just gave her the money. One day she chased him down and said, "Sir, I need to tell you something about these pretzels." He said, "Oh, I never take one, you know. I just give you the 25 cents." She replied, "Yes, I know. But, they have gone up to 35 cents."
The kingdom of Heaven will always cost us something: everything we are. But as we give everything to it we discover an amazing thing. It begins to take root in us and grow. And it creates within us the very best we can become. It calls forth from us the very best we could ever be. And, like all good investments, it will provide in us and for us wonderful dividends.
A man in one of my churches told me his son came home from Sunday school one Sunday and told his mother they had learned about inheriting God's kingdom. They studied what it means to inherit something. Then he said to his mother, "I'd like my inheritance now." His mother answered, "That's too bad. I'm not through with it yet."
In the kingdom of Heaven, however, you can have your inheritance now. Saint Paul wrote to the Romans, "The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs, heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ." In His final week Jesus told in one of His parables how the king would say, "Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world." It would be given to those who had given their lives in service, to those who had paid the price.
To discover the treasure of the kingdom of Heaven is to learn it costs life's highest price.
III.
Third, the treasure of His kingdom calls for life's deepest commitment. Because the kingdom of Heaven offers us the greatest joy at the highest cost, it calls for the deepest commitment. Jesus tells us that when this man sells all he has in order to raise enough money then he "buys that field." This man made the commitment. He bought it. He followed through with it all the way.
Now, remember the situation here. Jesus has told His disciples this parable about the kingdom of Heaven. He has been training those disciples, and He wants them to be kingdom of God people. He wants them to understand the sacrifice they would be making and the value of that kingdom. He is trying to impress those things upon them.
Christ's kingdom always calls for the note of sacrifice, taking a chance, living on the edge.
There was an Indian down in Florida who used to wrestle alligators for tourists. One time after one of his performances a lady noticed he wore a string of alligator teeth around his neck. She said, "Oh, that is sort of like wearing a string of pearls." He replied, "Not quite. Anyone can open an oyster."
Anyone can be religious. Having kingdom of God treasure is something else altogether. It always requires commitment. It calls us to give our lives to Christ and the rule of God in our lives. It puts us among the people of God who have been faithful to Him across the centuries. It re-orders our priorities, what we think is important, what we are living for. It leads us to dedicate our lives, who we are, what we can do, our abilities, hopes, and dreams to God's kingdom. In the midst of this kind of commitment we make the most marvelous discovery. We find that even though we began thinking it would cost us a great deal, we discover suddenly that we have riches untold, beyond measure. We become overwhelmed by the value of the treasure we have found, the treasure of His kingdom.
There is an ancient legend about some men who were on a long journey. They came across a great desert, and rode into a wilderness area. At sundown they came to a river. They got off their horses and knelt down by the river to drink water. Suddenly a voice spoke to them. The voice said, "Fill your pockets up with pebbles from along the river. And tomorrow you will be both glad and sorry." So they did what the voice commanded. They got on their horses and rode away. On through the night they rode. Finally the sun began to peek over the horizon. They stopped and reached into their pockets and there they found diamonds and rubies. They held a treasure in their hands, and they were both glad and sorry. They were glad they had it, but they were sorry because they had not taken more.2
The good news for us is we can have all we want of the treasure of His kingdom, all we are willing to take. If you will take that treasure you will learn it is the discovery of a lifetime.
____________
1. Peter Hunt Meek, "An Insufficient Joy," Pulpit Digest (Harper & Row Publishers, Inc.: Hagerstown, Maryland, March-April, 1989), p. 62.
2. T. Cecil Myers, Faith For A Time of Storm (Abingdon Press: New York and Nashville, 1963), p. 91.
Morning Prayer
Lent 4
Our Father and our God, who is the giver of all good gifts, we gather to worship Thee and to express our love for Thee for all Thy goodness toward us.
And in this season we think of Thy Son Jesus Christ and the goodness of His life. We thank Thee for the gift of Christ, for His winsome life, His wise teaching, His healing touch, His compassion and mercy, His unselfish death and His victorious resurrection. Enable us to walk through these days with Him.
Help us to open our lives to Him and to be Thy people in all we do.
Give us an unselfish spirit, courage to carry our burdens, the convictions of a great faith and commitment to Thee and Thy kingdom.
Forgive our sins, and enable us to forgive others. Give us patience, and help other people to be patient with us. Make us loving and easy to love. Make us strong, that we may help those who are weak.
Bless the work we do in this church for Thee and Thy kingdom. Help us always to put the welfare of Thy kingdom ahead of our own thoughts, desires, and opinions. Enable us to find the treasure of the kingdom of Christ.
Bless our sick and sorrowful, and those in our community who need Thy help and ours. Bless suffering people the world over.
Bless the leaders of the world, O God, with wisdom, compassion, and good sense. We pray these things in the name of Thy well-beloved Son. Amen.
Children's Message
Lent 4
Finding Buried Treasure
Good morning, boys and girls. I am so glad you have come to church today.
I have brought with me today a little shovel for us to look at. Now, this has many good uses. You could dig a hole for a fence post. Or you could dig a ditch to drain away water. You could use it to prepare the ground for a flower bed or a small garden. Can any of you think of any other ways to use this shovel?
You could also use it to dig for buried treasure. Maybe some of you have read a popular book called Treasure Island. It's a book about pirates and buried treasure.
One time Jesus was talking to some people. We are going to read about this later on today. He told a story about a man who found a treasure buried in a field. That man sold everything he had so he could have enough money to buy the field. Jesus was saying that to love God and live for God is that important. It is worth that much.
Jesus used a term, "the Kingdom of God." By that He meant God's rule in our lives. It is letting God be our ruler, the one we love and serve and obey. It is giving our lives to God.
For us to do this is more valuable to us than any treasure we could ever find. It is the most important thing we could ever have or discover. The most important decision we ever make is deciding to make God our king and then living in His kingdom.
So, don't let this treasure stay buried. Dig it up. Open it up and live on it.
Let's bow our heads. O God, thank You for the gift of your Son for the treasure we find in Him and You. Amen.
Discussion Questions
Lent 4
1. Begin the session with a prayer by a group member.
2. Have someone read Matthew 13:44.
3. Having asked them ahead of time, let members of the group share various sections of the chapter.
4. What is Jesus saying in this parable?
5. Why did He think the Kingdom of God was so valuable?
6. How valuable is the Kingdom of God to you?
7. Why is this so?
8. If the Kingdom of God is so valuable to you, what then will you do about it?
9. Close with a time of silent prayer, sentence prayers, and then the benediction by the leader.
Order Of Worship
11:00 a.m.
Fourth Sunday In Lent
WE GATHER TO WORSHIP GOD
Prelude
Chiming the Hour
Introit
Greeting
Leader: Rend your hearts and not your clothing.
People: Return to the Lord, your God, for He is gracious and merciful.
Hymn of Praise
"O Worship The King"
Affirmation of Faith
The Apostles' Creed
Welcome and Sharing
Children's Message
"Finding Buried Treasure"
WE TURN TO GOD IN PRAYER
Joys and Concerns
Morning Prayer and the Lord's Prayer
WE GIVE TO GOD
Prayer of Dedication
Offertory
Doxology
WE HEAR GOD'S WORD
Hymn of Preparation
"I Love Thy Kingdom, Lord"
Anthem
Reading of the Scriptures
Matthew 13:44
Leader: This is the Word of the Lord.
People: Thanks be to God.
The Message
"The Treasure Of His Kingdom"
WE RESPOND TO GOD
The Invitation to Christian Discipleship
Hymn of Invitation
"Jesus, Keep Me Near The Cross"
Benediction
Congregational Response
WE DEPART TO SERVE GOD
Postlude
