The Presbyterian Outlook - Worship resources for October 15, 2023

October 15, 2023 Twentieth Sunday after Pentecost Philippians 4:1-9 For the first several years of our marriage, my spouse and I lived in a couple of small apartments. Eventually, we finished our various degree programs, found jobs, made a move, and bought a house. It was great and wonderful to have a house, though we didn’t know much about what to do with it or how to care for it. Thankfully, we lived next door to Allen, and it became clear very quickly that Allen knew everything about how to maintain a house. Accordingly, we developed a homeowning strategy that involved watching Allen and doing what he did. If he was washing the storm windows and putting up screens, that’s what we did. If he was sealing his driveway, that’s what we did. If he was cleaning the gutters, that’s what we did.  If he was fertilizing the yard, that’s what we did. We would actually get up on Saturdays, look out the window, wait for Allen to appear and start on some kind of task, then we followed suit. And it worked out very well. Our 80-year-old house stayed in good shape. We learned some things along the way and developed some skills. When we moved on after six years in that house, we even admitted to Allen what we had been doing. He smiled a disbelieving smile, befitting of someone who had been a homeowner for 40 years and to whom it all seemed second nature. I learned to swim the breaststroke by watching Stephen. The instructor had tried to tell me about how to do it. He had diagrams and directions. He would move my arms and my legs in the right way, but I really struggled with the timing of the stroke. Finally, the instructor told me to watch Stephen, who was swimming in the adjacent pool used by the high school swim team. I stood on the deck and I watched him. Then I jumped it and tried it. Then I got out and watched some more. I learned the breaststroke from Stephen, just like I learned to care for a house from Allen. We can gain much by learning from those who have experience and knowledge and skills. Watch what they do; practice what they do. I’ve learned about faith from any number of teachers over the years. I suspect you have, too. Few of us can just pick up faith on our own. We need to be around others who know something about it and have some experience, some knowledge. I enjoy being in a group and asking people to share the name of someone from whom they learned about faith. Sometimes, it’s a parent or a grandparent or a Sunday school teacher or a youth group sponsor. Sometimes it’s someone you watched because of the joyful way she sang or the patient way he cared for his children or because of the warm way they always greeted you. ... Thank you to this week's writer John Wurster. You can read the rest of the commentary on our website. Order of worship for October 15, 2023. These liturgies are free to use. Horizons Bible Study: The demoniac’s sacred encounter by Rosalind Banbury The true gospel (October 15, 2023) by British Hyrams Children’s Sabbaths Celebration 2023 — Weekly Christian ed lesson by Joelle Brummit-Yale Want the worship resources for October 8, 2023? You can find them here. IN CASE YOU MISSED IT... Sympathizing with Job’s friends After tending to her sick mother, New Testament scholar Kathleen Gallagher Elkins finds that Job’s friends are more relatable than they once seemed. Leading at the borders: How to enter a time when everything is about to start To accept that we – and the church – have reached the metaphorical borderland, writes José R. Irizarry, is to be willing to imagine ourselves anew. Reading with wonder Reading the Bible used to feel like a drag to Walter Canter. He found reinvigorated joy when he let his curiosity, and the Holy Spirit, guide him. Change in the borderlands When it comes to theological leadership, we are in borderland, writes Teri McDowell Ott. How do we address change in this space? Jesus at the ballpark: Why MLB teams host faith nights Bobby Ross Jr. looks at how two cultural forces in America – faith and sports – overlap in the fostered environments of MLB faith nights. “We want to be witnesses to mercy” First Presbyterian Church of Charlotte, North Carolina, partners with Sun Counseling & Wellness to address the mental health crisis.