Today’s Meditation;
All the art of living lies in a fine mingling of letting go and holding on. ~ Havelock Ellis
Welcoming Guests and Announcements – Pastor Ross
Hymn Sing
Pastoral Prayer – Silent Prayer, Pastoral Prayer, Lord’s Prayer – Pastor Ross
Scripture Reading – Ruth 1:1‐5, 7, 12‐13, 16‐21 – Ernie Gutierrez
Message – After Loss, Restarting Our Lives ‐ Pastor Dave
Communion – Pastors Linda, Ross & Dave
Benediction
Ruth 1:1-5, 7, 12-13, 16-21 – New Revised Standard Version
1 In the days when the judges ruled, there was a famine in the land, and a certain man of Bethlehem in Judah went to live in the country of Moab, he and his wife and two sons.
2 The name of the man was Elimelech and the name of his wife Naomi, and the names of his two sons were Mahlon and Chilion; they were Ephrathites from Bethlehem in Judah. They went into the country of Moab and remained there.
3 But Elimelech, the husband of Naomi, died, and she was left with her two sons.
4 These took Moabite wives; the name of the one was Orpah and the name of the other Ruth. When they had lived there about ten years,
5 both Mahlon and Chilion also died, so that the woman was left without her two sons and her husband.
7 So she set out from the place where she had been living, she and her two daughters-in-law, and they went on their way to go back to the land of Judah.
12 Turn back, my daughters, go your way, for I am too old to have a husband. Even if I thought there was hope for me, even if I should have a husband tonight and bear sons,
13 would you then wait until they were grown? Would you then refrain from marrying? No, my daughters, it has been far more bitter for me than for you, because the hand of the Lord has turned against me.”
16 But Ruth said, “Do not press me to leave you, to turn back from following you! Where you go, I will go; where you lodge, I will lodge; your people shall be my people and your God my God.
17 Where you die, I will die, and there will I be buried. May the Lord do thus to me, and more as well, if even death parts me from you!”
18 When Naomi saw that she was determined to go with her, she said no more to her.
19 So the two of them went on until they came to Bethlehem. When they came to Bethlehem, the whole town was stirred because of them, and the women said, “Is this Naomi?”
20 She said to them, “Call me no longer Naomi; call me Mara, for the Almighty has dealt bitterly with me.
21 I went away full, but the Lord has brought me back empty; why call me Naomi when the Lord has dealt harshly with me and the Almighty has brought calamity upon me?”
Tragedy & loss can feel overwhelming for us. It happens for Naomi and her daughter in law Ruth, in losing their husbands. It takes some risk to face loss and face life again. Naomi discovers how God keeps working, especially in her honest confrontations with life’s heartaches.
Let us know what you would like to sing in Worship this summer!