WORSHIP PLAYLIST: If You Are Inclined to Watch Every Video in This Worship Service, You May Find It Convenient to Use This Playlist

Welcome In a typical year this would be Rally Sunday, the day on which both Choir and Sunday School resume and we gather at a park for an all-church picnic. The reality of the COVID-19 pandemic prevents us from celebrating those traditions, but it does not stop us from rallying together in Spirit to worship God and find strength and courage for these troubling times. To that end, as we move into our 2020-2021 program year, we will root our communal worship in a general theme: “Tracing the Heart of God”, that we may affirm not just the many ways in which God loves us and IS love, but also how much we need God, whether we say God, Jesus, or Holy Spirit. Today, we trace God’s heart through the power of God’s re-membering—for when God remembers, God acts to pour love out upon the world. (I promise the hyphen will make sense once you’ve heard/read the sermon!)

WORSHIP PLAYLIST: If you are inclined to watch every video in this worship service, you may find it convenient to use this playlist. You’ll only need to pause and unpause playback as needed (you may need to skip advertisements as usual); the videos will auto-run in the correct order.

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL14NES9h705WBNR3y-ezEniSmU2VVzOqA

Prelude Les Sauvages from Nouvelles suites de pièces de clavecin Rameau Koki Sato, Pianist https://youtu.be/0SeXaYtiLe8

The Church Bell Rings https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NAyLgHuPB6Q

Call to Worship and Opening Prayer Please join Erin as she leads us. https://youtu.be/AagnnqGU9to One: When we are lost and wandering, Many: Remember us, O God! One: When we have neglected to walk in your ways, Many: Remember us, O God! One: When the temptations of the world draw our attention away from kindness, justice, and humility, Many: Remember us, O God! One: Let us pray. Many: Holy One, the oldest stories of the Bible remind us that even though humans sometimes forget you, you do not forget us. There is always a place in your heart set aside for us, for your heart is big enough to contain both heaven and earth and everything else besides. May that amazing love fuel us as we worship you today, and as we go into the world and try to live as Jesus taught us. May it teach us always to remember those for whom we are called to care, especially those isolated by the pandemic or systems of power. May it always embolden us to remember you and lift our voices in praise to you, our Creator, the One whose heart beats for us all. Amen.

Choir Anthem “With a Voice of Singing” Martin Shaw Anoka UCC Chancel Choir; Don Shier, Director This recording is from September 8, 2019 https://youtu.be/V25VDuOzfCU

With a voice of singing declare ye this and let it be heard, Alleluia. Utter it even unto the ends of the earth. The Lord hath delivered God’s people, Alleluia. O be joyful in God, all ye lands, O sing praises to the honor of God’s name, make God’s praise to be glorious!

Children’s Time Pastor Chris talks a little bit about God’s enormous heart, and then teaches the new “Gloria” from Christopher Grundy. https://youtu.be/l8Kh09Gkacc

Gloria Christopher Grundy The Church affirms and celebrates God’s wondrous heart for all of Creation through the singing of a traditional Gloria. May this Gloria, written by Rev. Christopher Grundy, anchor us in the Heart of God as we prepare to hear God’s holy Word. Sing along. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w7ykbXZUCOw&feature=youtu.be

Glory to the Creator and the Christ, and the Spirit so near. As it was from the start so it shall be forever; One God, always here.

Scripture Reading: Genesis 6:5-8; 7:1-5, 11-12; 8:1-3, 20-22 Read to yourself or listen as Erin reads today’s passage. https://youtu.be/DAwaaPhLpto 6:5 The LORD saw that the wickedness of humankind was great in the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of their hearts was only evil continually. 6 And the LORD was sorry that he had made humankind on the earth, and it grieved him to his heart. 7 So the LORD said, "I will blot out from the earth the human beings I have created-- people together with animals and creeping things and birds of the air, for I am sorry that I have made them." 8 But Noah found favor in the sight of the LORD.

7:1 Then the LORD said to Noah, "Go into the ark, you and all your household, for I have seen that you alone are righteous before me in this generation. 2 Take with you seven pairs of all clean animals, the male and its mate; and a pair of the animals that are not clean, the male and its mate; 3 and seven pairs of the birds of the air also, male and female, to keep their kind alive on the face of all the earth. 4 For in seven days I will send rain on the earth for forty days and forty nights; and every living thing that I have made I will blot out from the face of the ground." 5 And Noah did all that the LORD had commanded him. 11 In the six hundredth year of Noah's life, in the second month, on the seventeenth day of the month, on that day all the fountains of the great deep burst forth, and the windows of the heavens were opened. 12 The rain fell on the earth forty days and forty nights.

8:1 But God remembered Noah and all the wild animals and all the domestic animals that were with him in the ark. And God made a wind blow over the earth, and the waters subsided; 2 the fountains of the deep and the windows of the heavens were closed, the rain from the heavens was restrained, 3 and the waters gradually receded from the earth. At the end of one hundred fifty days the waters had abated; 20 Then Noah built an altar to the LORD, and took of every clean animal and of every clean bird, and offered burnt offerings on the altar. 21 And when the LORD smelled the pleasing odor, the LORD said in his heart, "I will never again curse the ground because of humankind, for the inclination of the human heart is evil from youth; nor will I ever again destroy every living creature as I have done. 22 As long as the earth endures, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night, shall not cease."

One: Hear what the Spirit is saying to the church; Many: Thanks be to God! 3

Sermon Rev. Chris McArdle https://youtu.be/HySJuGaAz9Q

Hymn “Remember Me” Anderson-Lopez I couldn’t help but include this song as the post-sermon response From Disney/PIXAR’s film Coco. Think about Communion when you listen to the final verse. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E7VPdpEV1m0

Remember me / Though I have to say goodbye / Remember me / Don't let it make you cry For ever if I'm far away / I hold you in my heart / I sing a secret song to you / Each night we are apart Remember me / Though I have to travel far / Remember me / Each time you hear a sad guitar Know that I'm with you / The only way that I can be / Until you're in my arms again / Remember me

Que nuestra canción no deje de latir / Solo con tu amor yo puedo existir (recuérdame) Que nuestra canción no deje de latir / Solo con tu amor yo puedo existir (recuérdame) Si en tu mente vivo estoy (recuérdame) / Mis sueños yo te doy Te llevo en mi Corazon / Y te acompañaré Unidos en nuestra canción / Contigo ahi estaré Recuérdame / Si sola crees estar / Recuérdame Y mi cantar te irá a abrazar / Aun en la distancia / Nunca vayas a olvidar… Que yo contigo siempre voy, recuérdame

If you close your eyes and let the music play / Keep our love alive, I'll never fade away

Remember me, for I will soon be gone Remember me, and let the love we have live on And know that I'm with you the only way that I can be So, until you're in my arms again, remember me

A Prayer for the People Aicia Hager This prayer, written for Labor Day, was published at revgalblogpals.org. It speaks of God creating in the beginning, which is a very good place to start.

God of All Labor I wonder: When you created the waters did your arm muscles sing like the arms of the workers who haul wet sheets in hotel laundry rooms? Or did you nonchalantly SNAP the world into being as they snap towels while they fold them? When you raised up the mountains did your lower back clench like theirs, when they bend to scrub yet another bathtub? I wonder if your legs got tired like gas station attendants, food workers and factory employees, finishing a long shift. They know the backyard bbqs are over now, the celebrations missed.

Did your eyes fill up and overflow when you saw the filigree whiskers twitch on your first perfect rabbit; like the eyes of a Covid floor nurse who just watched her patient breathe unaided? As your work went on, day after day without rest, did your brain get fuzzy like the third shifters who don’t get a holiday today though they’d desperately love to sleep? Is that why you made mosquitos, God? (And I hope You’ll forgive me, for making this only about the things I know. You are unknowable to me, and with You my words fail.) Today many of us rest, our offices are closed, phones go to voicemail, alarms are not set. But Lord, many of us do not. Breathe life and peace, courage and strength into those who cannot rest today, and grant the rest of us patience and kindness as we rely on the workers who simply cannot cease in their labor. Amen.

Sung Prayer “Take, O Take Me as I Am” John L. Bell Sing along as you might in church. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DGOKRzfK1g8

Take, O take me as I am. Summon out what I shall be. Set your seal upon my heart and live in me.

Prayer of Our Savior The Prayer has many versions; pray whichever you desire (debts, sins, trespasses, etc.). We affirm that God has many names, so use one of the suggested or another of your choosing.

Our Father/Mother/Creator, 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 debts, as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever. Amen.

Offering The Heart of God is traced by the faithfulness of your giving. We could not do this without you. THANK YOU!

You may mail your offering to: First Congregational Church 1923 3rd Avenue Anoka, MN 55303

We also have an ongoing contract with Vanco Services to provide online contribution support. If you have not already done so, go to our website and click the DONATE button at the top of the page. From there, you may set up an online profile and direct funds to the church from your bank account in a one-time or recurring donation. http://www.uccanoka.org

Benediction It says “go forth”, but really: stay safe at home!

Go forth into the world in peace. Be strong and of good courage. Hold fast to that which is good. Love and serve the Lord with gladness and singleness of heart, rejoicing in the power of the Holy Spirit. Amen, and amen.

Congregational Blessing “God Be With You” Dorsey/Hutchins Sing along. https://youtu.be/pknh8nOLGAg

Postlude Rondeau du Grand Calumet de la Paix from Les Indes galantes Rameau Koki Sato chose this postlude in part because of the powerful choreography that accompanies the performing of the Rondeau. https://youtu.be/TfQJZ76WR0U

Acknowledgements Aicia Hager’s prayer is published at https://revgalblogpals.org/2020/09/07/monday-prayer-labor-090720/. The Scripture quotations contained herein are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright ©1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the U.S.A. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Sermon Text There’s no getting around the fact that the Flood story is gruesome. In my experience, many who do not espouse any particular religious inclination will often point to it as proof that religious folks worship a bloodthirsty God. In our church and in our wider, theological tradition many of us don’t follow that logic, but we do acknowledge the challenge of it. Even we flinch when the violent stuff comes up, and I don’t suppose we always know what to say about it. It’s not nearly enough to simply say, “I find authority in the love stuff, not the wrath stuff.” More helpful is, “the context of these ancient writings is a violent one,” so long as we don’t suggest that our time is any less violent. I don’t like the violent stuff, either, but I think it serves a purpose. I don’t mean to be flip when I say it makes the good moments look better! When I read these stories as creative literature, written on the foundation of core beliefs, the violence plays a role. For sure, I always remember that people wrote these stories, and violence is so often our context. Violence touches so many parts of our lives—why not these stories, too? It then becomes that much more remarkable when, in Scriptural stories like The Flood or the

Resurrection, we see God ultimately choosing nonviolence. That choice informs how we understand the heart of God. In the Flood Story, we find the choice of nonviolence on full display at the end. God says (Genesis 9:12-15), This is the sign of the covenant that I make between me and you and every living creature that is with you, for all future generations: 13 I have set my bow in the clouds, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and the earth. 14 When I bring clouds over the earth and the bow is seen in the clouds, 15 I will remember my covenant that is between me and you and every living creature of all flesh; and the waters shall never again become a flood to destroy all flesh. When you meet that passage, what jumps out at you right away? Maybe it’s “covenant,” or the idea that God makes the covenant with every living creature. Both of those are powerful moments—but rising above them, to my ears, is I will remember. That promise redirects us to the moment on which the entire Flood story hinges: chapter eight, verse one, when the narrator writes, “But God remembered Noah.” Everything before that point is pretty awful—but after that moment, the rains subside. The flood recedes. Life begins anew as a new Creation. All because God remembered. A less-Scriptural story may help me illustrate just how significant “God remembered” is; It’s The Secret Garden, by Frances Hodgson Burnett, or rather the musical based on that. In this tale, Mary Lennox is a child of means, but her parents care nothing for her and treat her as a nuisance. When they die in a cholera outbreak, Mary is sent to England to live with her uncle Archibald, a distant man who is embittered by the death of his wife Lily, Mary’s aunt. Mary finds no more welcome there than she did in her own family. Left largely to her own devices, she finally meets her cousin Colin, an invalid. He, too, is bereft of family, his mother dead and his father absent. Together, Mary and Colin become family to each other in name and spirit as they discover Lily’s garden which Archibald has ordered locked forever. They realize along the way Colin isn’t ill at all. Late in the story, a letter to Archibald brings him home, and he discovers that Love did not die with his wife, and Colin is well. Mary watches this reunion and fears there will be no place for her again. But Archibald says to her, “Mary. I’d nearly forgotten you in all this.” She responds, “It’s hard to remember everybody, sir.” “No, it isn’t,” he replies. “Three isn’t very many people at all. I should be able to remember three people quite easily. Mary Lennox, for as long as you will have us, we are yours, Colin and I, and this is your home. And this, my lovely child, is your garden.” This scene illustrates what is so remarkable about remembering. It’s not about memory and the ability to recall facts, names, or faces, or at least it isn’t just about that. If seminary taught me anything, it’s that we can hyphenate words to make new meaning clearer. So, “re-member.” Membering is happening again. And what is a “member” if not part of a community? So, “remembering” is about bringing something back into the fold, into the community, into relationship. It’s about re-membering what has been dis-membered. In The Secret Garden, Mary Lennox has been, figuratively speaking, dis-membered. Her family members have died. She’s alone. Colin’s own family is just as dis-membered, and all the more so because his legs don’t work. But Colin and Mary re-member each other, almost literally, and when Archibald comes home, he re-members them too. They are restored, renewed, and rejuvenated, just like Lily’s garden, itself a symbol, perhaps, of paradise regained. Throughout Scripture, when God remembers, you know something big is about to happen. For with God, remembering is almost always re-membering. Remembering is an action word like love. When God calls down the deluge, God is dis-membering Godself from humanity. God is saying, “We are no longer community, you and I.” But when God remembers Noah, that is the moment when God chooses to re-member humanity, to restore them into right relationship with God, to reverse the destruction. At the end of the story, God covenants to not do it again. 7

That covenant piece is so important, because it really gets at how we understand the heart of God. Covenanting is more than promise. It’s more than contract. Covenanting is a deliberate act by which two or more people enter into intentional relationship with each other. It’s a decisive act of re-membering. Ruth and Naomi, both dis-membered from their families, re-member each other. David and Jonathan, remember each other in a foreshadowing of the dis-membering both will endure from Saul. As God covenants with all creation, God re-members them into God’s community. When God calls Abraham and Sarah away from their homeland, effectively dis-membering them from their community of origin, God re- members them by promising them descendants who will be a new family, a new nation, a new beloved people. That particular covenant is so often recalled in Scripture, because that intentional re-membering is the very substance of God’s heart. In Psalm 106 we read (vv. 43-45): Many times God delivered them, but they were rebellious in their purposes, and were brought low through their iniquity. 44 Nevertheless God regarded their distress after hearing their cry. 45 For their sake God remembered God’s covenant, and showed compassion according to the abundance of God’s chesed (steadfast love). And at the end of Exodus 2, God’s act of remembering triggers the events that lead to Israel’s liberation (23-25): After a long time the king of Egypt died. The Israelites groaned under their slavery, and cried out. Out of the slavery their cry for help rose up to God. 24 God heard their groaning, and God remembered the covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. 25 God looked upon the Israelites, and God took notice of them. Friends, though the Scriptures offer us many stories of dis-membering, re-membering is the main idea, the central theme, the window into the heart of the Gospel. Jesus makes re-membering the heart of his ministry. He dis-members his disciples from their communities of origin and re-members them into his own Body. He re-members those who Roman society had dis-membered: the poor, the sick, the homeless, the outcasts, the criminals. We join in God’s heart when we re-member those who have been dis-membered by the Church and the world. We could just as easily say, “We re-member all individuals and families of any sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, gender expression, relationship status, race, national origin, socioeconomic status, age, mental and physical health or ability, or belief.” That is our covenant, our intentional commitment to be in community with people without prejudice toward who they are. People say this so often it’s become trite: “we live in an age of deep polarization.” Perhaps we should say, “we live in an age of deep dis-membering.” The pandemic has only made it worse. We live in a time when the eye says to the hand, “I have no need of you,” when the head says to the feet, “I have no need of you.” But God remembered Noah. And Paul so vividly reminds us: the members of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, and those members of the body that we think less honorable we clothe with greater honor, and our less respectable members are treated with greater respect; whereas our more respectable members do not need this. But God has so arranged the body, giving the greater honor to the inferior member, that there may be no dissention within the body, but the members may have the same care for one another. Paul may as well have written, “If one member is dis-membered, all suffer with it; if one member is remembered, all rejoice together with it.” Jesus calls us to remember to re-member. Is that not what he did, there on the cross? “Forgive them, Father.” Is that not what he did in the upper room after washing their feet? “As often as you do this, Remember me.” He invites us to forgive. He invites us to re-member each other. That is the hard news, but it also the Good News. Thanks be to God.

 First Congregational Church UCC, Anoka, MN  1923 Third Avenue, Anoka, MN 55303  (763) 421-3375 Pastor – Rev. Chris McArdle Director of Music Ministries – Don Shier Keyboardist – Koki Sato Pastor of Ministerial Support – Rev. Curt Johnson Moderator – Mike Nelson Website: http://www.uccanoka.org  Email: [email protected]

First Congregational Church, UCC of Anoka is an Open and Affirming Christian Community for all. We affirm that the image of God is most fully reflected in diversity. We invite all people to share their energy and talents in full participation with our community. We welcome all individuals and families of any sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, gender expression, relationship status, race, national origin, socioeconomic status, age, mental and physical health or ability, or belief. Together, we celebrate these and all other facets of one’s essential being.